


Star Wars: Switchblade

by Captain_Kiri_Storm



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Axhir is a Knife-Man, Cathars, Drunk Cathars Make It All Better, F/M, For a Friend, I Don't Need Another Project, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lotho Minor, M/M, Maul Doesn't Get Cut in Two-AU, Sith Shenanigans, Space Scavengers, The Author Regrets Nothing, Yet I Have One, oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 38,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7809715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Kiri_Storm/pseuds/Captain_Kiri_Storm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Axhir Ni of the frigate Switchblade thought he'd do was go drag a half dead Sith out of the mess that made up Lotho Minor. Because, you know, Ax has some sense. It's something not all Cathars have, as he knows all to well. He's seen the infamous Irene Terra in action. And he's felt himself fly into a rage. Yet...getting stolen from in the middle of the night usually doesn't mean you wind up friends with someone. </p><p>The bloody Zabrak who calls himself Maul must be a special case.</p><p>The one thing Ax would like to know is: why the hell are all the Imperials chasing them?! And why is Maul obsessed with swords and insulting his piloting abilities?</p><p>If, you know, it's not too much trouble to get a karking straight answer out of the barve!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Like Embers of a Dying Flame

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Noahskywalker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noahskywalker/gifts).



> Theme music for this piece: Cut the Cord by Shinedown. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itwt_opsvQ

Pain. That was all he was aware of pain. Blood. Smoke. Falling. The awful feeling of blood and bone and muscle tearing beneath the blue blade of his enemy. Watching as all of the blood poured out of the wound. Watching as the Jedi picked up his fallen comrade. Falling, because the Jedi pushed him. And landing. There was nothing left of him now, just a broken husk of blood and bone. Burnt muscle twitching as he tried to heal it. Looking at the colors of his insides. Falling back on heaps of filth because he's too injured to move. All he can do is lie back.

Rain pattered down from the broken ceiling. Dimly, he wondered how long he'd been lying there. Certainly enough time for the blood to dry in a sticky mess. He rolled over and pulled the charred remains of his tunic from his body. The Zabrak's stomach rolled as he looked at the places where the black fabric had melted into his skin. **That** would hurt getting off. The Zabrak tried to get his feet under him. He looked at the mess the Jedi had made out of his lower body.

Okay. He needed to see how much damaged the Jedi had done. That meant that he had to peel back the burnt cloth and look down at the damage. Okay...hat looked nasty. Maul prodded the wound with one taloned finger. His flesh squished around him as he looked at the injury. It hadn't gone all the way through, but he would need something to hold him his stomach in before all of his internals feel out. That one would be causing him a bunch of pain if he ever made it out of this one. It was looking like he wouldn't.

 _Rags_. That's what he needed. Rags. He needed rags to hold his body together.

Maul wrapped the injury in what was left of his tunic. He didn't bother looking for the lightsaber. What he had to do now was figure out a way of getting out of here. He called to the Force, letting it wrap around him a he staggered out. The last time he'd been this injured was when Komaria had beaten the hell out of him for killing her wolf worm. In Maul's defense, it had attacked him first. Not that Komaria had really cared about that...

He had to start walking, otherwise he'd rot down here. The young Zabrak took one staggering step. He braced himself against the wall and waited for the surge of pain to pass. He could do this. He was strong. Maul was a Warrior. He wasn't a pathetic failure like his Master always said. He could put one foot in front of the other and walk. He could hold his head up high, despite the blood seeping from his injuries. Maul kept his golden eyes wide open. He had to start walking. He couldn't stop or he would die. If he died, it was his own fault. His Master had given him everything and Maul was prove that he was a good Apprentice, even if it killed him.

He ignored the sky that arched over head. Maul wasn't sure how far he'd walked, only that his wound was screaming in pain. He fell to his knees, his head hitting his chest. Agony flared up his side, seeming to light it on fire. Maul took a shaking breath, looking up at the sky. As expected, nothing but the speeders going by. Everyone was walking and going about their own business. He peeled back one edge of his improvised wound and looked at the wound. Raw...but not infected. **Yet**. The Zabrak stayed on his knees for a moment later. And didn't look at the injury. He'd die, wouldn't he? He'd die. And his Master would he proved right that Maul was just another failure.

_The Nightsisters didn't want you! That's all you'll ever be, just another unwelcome gift! Now get up off your knees and **go** somewhere!_

His body was failing him. Maul called upon the Dark Side and used it to fuel his body. He took one halting step. And then another. Maul had no idea where he was walking, just that he was going for the nearest exit. Unmentionable things squelched under his boots. His head sagged to his chest. Maul collapsed and grabbed himself with the Force. It almost feel from his grasp, but Maul tried. He couldn't look back at the trash tunnels. Maul walked. It was all he could do. Stagger and look for something. Never mind that he was weakening with blood that dripped from his body.

A skiff. Transporting the trash to who knew where. They weren't guarding it. Maul could stagger on board and hide. He could cloak himself in the Force and they could never know he was there. So much pain. Everything was a haze. Just him staggering. Just the blood that passed from his lips. Just the way he looked around. Just him doing that.

The ship was old, but clean. Maul hid in a closet. He looked at the trail of blood he left and prayed to any god hearing that they would ignore it. He had no strength left. Maul slid down the wall, trying to heal the gaping wound. He wouldn't do a clean job of it, but it was better than it festering.

"Master?" Maul softly asked. "Please, Master, I need your help." He touched the Force, looking for some sense that his Master had heard him. Only the empty, yawning Darkness greeted him. Nothing. He was alone... " _Please_."

He saw his own life force flickering like the embers of a dying flame. Maul looked at the bloody wound. He saw it close. He was healing, but healing slower. He'd lost so much blood. Too much for him to justify the pain of living much more. Maul looked down at the injury before he passed out, in a bloody heap of robes.

He didn't stir, not even when his limp body was thrown out of the airlock, into the waste land of Lotho Minor.


	2. The Forgotten One

He wasn't sure who had mistaken him for a dead body and left him on Lotho Minor to rot, but Maul would have happily gutted them and stolen their ship. He must have been out of it for something like that to work. And it wasn't as if Maul had made it easy on him. He'd been told by more than one person that he weighed a _karking ton_. But all of that was going away as Maul tried to survive on this forsaken planet. All he had was his wits and the odd blaster he found in the trash pits. Lotho Minor must have started out as a waste colony, because it was just a giant heap of trash. This was the planet where droids came to die. Maul had found every ship part known to man, but finding food was hard.

Maul wasn't picky about having his food cooked or not half rotted. If it meant calories going to his starved body, he ate it. And kept it down. The one thing he still wouldn't eat was the animal's internal organs. At least, not unless he was starving and it was the only food he caught after two days of not eating anything.

Blood from the rat dripped down his chin as he ate. The wound from his side had healed, mostly, but a few spots were still oozing pus. It hurt when he walked, making finding food difficult at best. These days, even drawing from the Dark Side didn't make him stronger. Maul attacked the meat with a savage hunger. It had been alive a few seconds ago, but Maul had killed it and then gutted the thing with a piece of metal sharpened to make a knife. He guessed that daggers were more valuable than blasters. He usually didn't find food, but when he did, it was usually rotten or infested with maggots. Maul ate it anyways and tried to ignore the pain that had him curled up inside his shelter, sobbing and holding his belly.

The only other option was going hungry.

He raised his head, looking around. Maul didn't see anything, but that didn't mean nothing was there. The other Jedi had surprised him. Maul wasn't letting it happen again. He swallowed. Usually, Maul could slake his thirst with what water collected in the dips on sheets of metal, but it had been oddly dry for the last few days. No rain meant no water. No water meant dead Maul. The blood he'd drained from the rat wouldn't last him for very long. Maul was often cold these days and he shivered when the wind caressed his body. Maul turned his head and looked at the ground. He needed to move before something came out here and tried to kill him.

Maul staggered as he tried to walk. The lack of water made his head pound and him see spots in front of his eyes. Even brackish, standing water would be welcome now. He grabbed the staff he'd fashioned out of a metal rod and tried to walk. The world swam in front of his eyes. Maul reached to the Force, adding a silent plea to his Master. And whatever gods might be listening that it would rain. He needed the rain. Despite what he'd drank (Maul shuddered and tried not to think about it), his tongue sat thick and swollen in his mouth.

Only a dry, dusty wind greeted him as Maul collapsed in the shelter. He'd crawled inside an old tank one night and decided to make it his base. It was high enough off the ground that he wasn't fending off wild animals. With the drought, the big fire-wolves would be coming after him. The rats they both preyed on were probably dying in droves. He sat down, wearing, on one of the shelves and tried to fall into his meditation. Maybe he'd reach his Master today and the Sith would send him a search party. At this point, Maul didn't care if the Jedi heard him. They would at least give him as much water as he could drink before they executed him.

Nothing. Just a yawning blackness where his bond with his Master had once been.

Maul's head hit his knees. He was worthless, wasn't he? He couldn't reach out to the **most powerful Force user he knew** from three systems over. The red felt that he deserved to die in this filthy planet.

The rats would gnaw his bones and the fire-wolves would chew them. Maul would be forgotten like the failure he was.

He licked his cracked and bloody lips. As much as drinking animal blood disgusted him, it was the only fluid he'd had in three days. He couldn't afford to be picky. Not without dying.

He curled up under a sheet of canvas, trying to ignore the burning thirst in his throat. Hunger went away. Even though his ribs were hollowed out, the pangs of hunger faded. But thirst...his body cried out for water and didn't care how he got it. As it often did, in moments like this, his gaze fell to the makeshift knife. Its handle was wrapped in old canvas, much like what he slept in. It was looking much more like a friend now than ever. Maul would prefer to go out on his own terms rather than weakening and dying.

_Or being killed by the wolves._

The eerie howling started, as it always did, when the sky was dark and nothing else stirred. Fire-wolves were the ultimate guard dogs. He was trapped here, because all the ships here couldn't fly. They were junked. He was junked. A little bit of Maul wanted to throw himself to the wolves and just let it all be over. There was nothing he could do.

Until the familiar _crack_ , _hiss_ , _boom_ of thunder jolted him from his sleep. If Maul had had enough fluid left in his body, he would have wept for joy. Instead, he crawled to the top of the tank and just stood in the rain as it pounded and washed him clean of the blood that stained his skin.


	3. From the Ashes

Maul had discovered how to set things on fire.

This was usually a thing his Master had used as an excuse to beat him. He wasn't supposed to use his lightning to do things like start fires, but that was going to be the only way he survived. Maul's belly turned at the thought of disobeying his Master. He wanted to show that he was good! That he could really and truly be trusted to keep to the Sith Code even when the times were tough and he could die. Maul had gotten tired of eating raw meat and he was trying to cook it. Maybe that would help with his exhaustion and the shakiness. He was **exhausted**.

The red Zabrak wrapped his ragged jacket around hos body. He no longer cared about trying to keep clean. What was the use? He'd die. He was going to die here. Maul was only prolonging the inevitable. He swallowed and tried not to look at the flickering flames. The red didn't want to die. He wanted to _live_. As he always did, Maul poured out his anguish to the Force, hoping to spur his Master on to helping him. Maul would take the punishment his Master heaped upon his shoulders for not defeating those Jedi! He'd lost. He'd **failed**...but Maul didn't want to die. He wanted to live! That was why he'd gone on, fighting to survive in this hell hole of a world.

He raised his head and staggered to his feet. As usual, nothing had answered his plea to the Force. Maul was all alone and he was going to die and he was going to be forgotten. Maul's head fell to his chest as he staggered back to the wrecked tank.

Light flickered in the corner of one of the piles. Maul's breath caught. Perhaps that was his search party! Perhaps Sidious hadn't bothered talking to him because there was already a party in route. Maul wondered why they had taken a few months to get out here, though. But it wasn't his place to ask. Hope swelled within his chest. maul grabbed his staff, now used for walking more than defense, and staggered across the mounds of trash. He'd been sliced so many times now that Maul simply didn't look at the cuts that littered his skin or the places that oozed blood and pus.

His clothes were more grey than black with grime and they hung off his body.

Maul slipped down a slope of trash, landing louder than he wanted. He swallowed and tried not to think of the noise that he'd made. A quick glance at the sky revealed that it was already later than Maul wanted to be out. It didn't matter, because he was going home! His Master had sent a party and they were going to make his body stop shaking as he tried to walk. They were going to make him feel better and not cry out in pain every time he twisted his ribs. Maul picked his way across the top of a wrecked fighter. This close, he could smell the heavy scent of wood smoke and hear the crackle of flames.

Instead of a party of black clad Acolytes, a Cathar was sprawled over the wing of the frigate. Maul fell to his knees, looking at the creature. It didn't take a mind reader to tell that the male was drunk. His grey fur moved in the breeze and his slight mane was braided with glass beads. It looked like he even had ghost stripes. Maul just sat there, watching the sleeping Cathar. He could smell the alcohol in the air. The Zabrak couldn't put a word to all of the pain he felt. Maul was such a failure that he went after every drunk he could find just to get away from his Master's tests!

The Cathar stirred. Maul looked down, seeing a few things stashed just beside the male. It looked like a case of ration bars. Maul almost felt like weeping as he looked at the male's stash. He was going to get those ration bars! He needed whatever was in there that would make him healthy! Maul had been struck with so much hunger that he'd been forced to eat every bit of the animals he killed. Still, the male was pitifully thing. He was trying, but he didn't think he'd make it. Maul was pretty sure he was going to die here, but damn him, Maul was going to go out fighting.

He climbed down off of the fighter. His boots had been worn to pieces by his constant struggle to survive. Maul tied them together best he could. If he didn't have boots, his feet would get shredded and he would starve. Or die of infection. Maul struggled as he tried to walk. It was hard to keep himself silent and still try to get what that Cathar had. If he was enough of a fool to get **drunk** out **here** , he deserved to get robbed! And Maul was not going to feel bad about it.

A hiss like escaping gas jerked him from his thoughts. The Cathar picked himself up, fire in his yellow eyes. The creature bent down, his tail lashing back and forth. Maul backed up as best he could. The Cathar snarled. His ears went flat against his skull as he picked himself up. Maul yelled and staggered back. The Cathar lunged forwards. Maul screamed as the claws shredded his forearm. The creature backhanded him across the face. Maul pushed him with the Force. The Cathar pounced. Maul smashed him in the face with the staff. The Cathar screamed. He lunged to one side. The creature stayed low and he lunged.

Maul hit him with Force lightning. The creature screamed in agony. He struck the frigate's side but picked himself up. An eerie yowl split the air as Maul took a step forward. He was looking straight at the best, but Maul didn't seem to care. He growled and snarled and picked up the pace. Maul dove to one side. Claws shredded his bad side. Maul fell to the ground, looking at the Cathar with his odd golden eyes. The Cathar slashed him down the side, his claws as sharp as any dagger. Maul staggered, holding the bloody slashes. This beast was going to kill him!

"Help me!" Maul wasn't sure what he was screaming to, but his voice sounded rusty and disused, even to his ears.

The Cathar sat back on his haunches as he licked Maul's blood off his claws. "Nothin's out here, mate. Nothing but scrap and tech."

"I will kill you," Maul snarled. He tried to call the Force, but his weakened body refused.

The grey and black striped Cathar snorted. "With what? The karkin' _Force_? You been hanging out 'round those Jedi _di'kuts_ , mate? Cause you _kenna_ the Force ain't nothing but a story, mate."

Maul stared at the Cathar. The Cathar stared at him. "You," Maul managed, "are _mad_."

"Might be," the Cathar shrugged. Then his eyes narrowed as he looked at Maul. "Why you tryin' ta steal my shit? Go get yer own food!"

"You were drunk," Maul spat.

"I spend a lotta time drunk and I spend a lotta time fightin' with me claws. You gotta problem with that? Kriff you, I don't give a damn," the Cathar retorted. The he grinned. Maul drew back. He could snap his creature's neck, but the Force wasn't responding to him. "Though you need a bath, so I'll pass."

"Did you just...?"

"Yeah." The Cathar gave him a _duh_ look. "I've gotten lays in cantinas for less."

 _ **That** _ did it. "I am not some whore you pick up in a dock!"

"No, yer too much too dirty fer that," the Cathar grinned. "Besides, I don't always do guys unless they're real hot. Not that I got a problem with it, I jes' don't usually do it."

Maul tried to process these thoughts. He really did. If this was the world that his Master had sequestered him from for so long, then Maul wouldn't mind going back to Mustafar. Because there he didn't have Cathars going from trying to kill him to trying to...lay him. Whatever that meant. Maul wasn't getting anything from the Cathar that meant the male wanted to hurt him, but he was pretty sure the Cathar was crazy.

"Excuse me for not having access to a shower," Maul snarled. "Or food!"

"You want outta here?" the Cathar offered. "I'm not exactly legal, mind you."

"Where are you going?" Maul sighed. He could ditch the Cathar at the first stop and then go home. Maybe this was his test. Maybe he was supposed to figure out how to get home by himself and show his Master what he could do.

"Away from here," the Cathar shrugged. That worked for Maul. "The name is Axhir Ni, by the way. I go by Ax." He reached into a pack Maul hadn't seen before and tossed him something. Maul managed to call it towards him. He held it up in the dim fire light. After deciding it was food, Maul tore into it. It was. It was sweet, nice, and also crunchy. It tasted good. He finished it quickly before wiping his hands off.

"My name is Darth Maul."


	4. You Need Help, Nerra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So let me help you, stupid!

"That supposed ta mean somethin', buddy?" Ax asked. He lounged back from Maul, looking at him with those cat eyes. Maul shifted. He didn't quite like being on the receiving end of this look. The Cathar shrugged as he lapped the blood off of his claws. "Not tha I really care. Was just askin'."

"I thought so," Maul muttered. He rubbed his aching side, trying to figure out what he wanted to do. He needed off of Lotho Minor. If he stayed here, he would starve and he would die. And he wanted to live. Even if he was just going to last a week before something killed him. Or he might kill the Cathar. Maul looked at Ax, noting the power in his limbs and the way he held himself. Ax was a big alien. He was broad shouldered like most Cathars, but his muzzle was narrow. He didn't look like he had fangs until he turned his head and they caught the like.

Maul touched his horns, wincing when he touched a broken spot. Ax seemed to notice his pain and passed him a bottle of some type of alcohol. Maul, who had never drank in his life, pushed it back with a shake of the head. The Cathar shrugged as if to say "suit yourself" before taking a slug. Maul sat across from him, looking through what he could of the Cathar's mind. His name was Axhir Ni, he owned the _Switchblade_ free and clear, he liked knives, and he had a girlfriend and cubs on Rhea. Tortuga City, to be precise. Ax went through old scrap heaps looking for gold conductors. He drank because he'd fought in the Clone Wars and watched as a squad of...clones? was blown to bits beside him. Mortar shell. No survivors, but lots of blood and screaming. Ax drank to keep the nightmares at bay.

"You look rough, _nerra_ ," Ax murmured. His yellow eyes gleamed as he looked at Maul. Maul shifted uncomfortably. He'd never been comfortable with anyone seeing his body. But if he was going to play this little game... Ax tossed him something. "Access chip. Go get a shower, ya need one. Second door to port."

The red Zabrak nodded and stood on shaky legs. He grabbed his staff, using it for purchase as he walked. He might as well be clean. Maul searched the frigate with the Force. There wasn't another life form besides a cat curled up in the engine room. Maul managed to stagger up the ramp and swipe the chip across the reader. The frigate opened her hatch and let him in. Maul followed Ax's directions and came to a room with no door. From the looks of it, it had been busted off the hinges. Maul swore under his breath. But, from the looks of things, this was the refresher.

Maul tried to swallow his shame as he undressed. At least there was a curtain for a **little** privacy. On after thought, he grabbed his ruined clothes and pooled water in the bottom of the tub. The black robes were all he had. Maul washed what would be directly on his skin first, followed by the inner robe. He winced as he watched dark grey water swirl through the drain. Ax's shampoo worked wonders as detergent, too. It has been far too long since Maul felt clean clothes on clean skin. He saved washing out the outer robe for last. It, like his other clothes, was completely messed up. Maul washed that off and hung his clothing up to dry on the towel wrack. He tossed the towels on the floor.

The first hit of hot water on his skin felt _amazing_. Maul grabbed the wash cloth and lathered up three or four times. He tried not to whimper when he touched the raw spots and the places where he was bloody. The place that oozed green pus (it stank) almost made him scream as Maul touched it. He tried to ignore it when the water was tinged with blood as he washed. He had so many injuries covering his body... The red forced himself to finish and get out. He needed to tend his wounds. He checked with the Force to see if Ax was on the ship. The Cathar wasn't and the bridge was locked.

Well, that killed that plan.

Maul rooted through a cabinet and grabbed a vial of ointment, bandages, and rubbing alcohol. And something to grit his teeth on as he started draining the pus with a razor. Maul wanted to scream as he opened up the infections, but he channeled it to the Dark Side. Yet even that felt hollow. Maul forced himself through it and bandaged up all of the wounds he could. Even the ones on the back of his thighs. The spot on his side, where the lightsaber had first gone in, needed stitches. Maul looked around for a sewing kit, but didn't find one. He tried not to whimper in pain. He was a Sith and he was strong!

He looked back at his dripping clothes. As much as he hated wearing wet clothes, the other option was going around naked. Maul pulled them on and grabbed his staff. It felt amazing beyond words to be clean. He would never pass up the chance to shower again. Maul left his boots where they were. He shouldn't need them on a ship. Now. It was time to find the medical bay where he could burn out the growths in his side. Maul swallowed as he tried to walk. He was dizzy from all that he'd done. But, damn him, he was strong! He was going to be able to do this! He wasn't some weak Jedi brat!

The cauterizing laser made him wail as he passed it over the oozing wound and the smell had him vomiting what little was on his stomach. Maul forced himself to stand up. What would Sidious say if he saw Maul huddling on the floor from a little pain?  Oh, yeah, he would say that Maul was weak and he needed to fix himself! Maul swallowed and found the surgical kit. He'd never given himself stitches before, but he knew the theory.

"Hey, whatcha doin?"

Maul turned around. "I have injuries that require treatment, Cathar."

"I know. You smell sick." Ax crossed the room quickly and put his hands on the kit. "Lemme help ya. You never hurt of a painkiller?"

"I need to be in my right mind,"Maul growled. He moved back, glaring at the Cathar. Ax shrugged. He went through a drawer and came back with a fine needle. Maul shifted away, trying not to show his fear. He was a Sith! He wasn't supposed to be afraid of needles! Yet images flashed in front of his eyes and Maul suppressed the shiver of fear.

"Yeah, I can get you a localized painkiller," Ax muttered. He held up a red vial. "This is called Nuflorex. It's nothin' much, just a local painkiller I use when I break something and gotta use a bone knitter. All it's gonna do is numb the area. It won't kill you."

It took Maul a minute before he nodded. Ax moved so that Maul would see him work. The needle slid into the raw flesh and then a wonderful feeling of **numb** flooded the area. Maul released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. The Cathar nodded and started working the surgical kit. It felt odd to watch as Ax stitched the injury up. He gritted his teeth, expecting pain, but nothing came. Ax looked at some of the other injuries, the ones long since healed, ad shook his head.

"I'm not askin' how ya got those. Somethin' tells me I don't wanna know."

"You're right," Maul agreed. "You don't." He stood up, surprised to see that he was able to walk. Ax watched him go. Maul didn't bother reading the Cathar's mind. All he wanted to do was rest. He ached all over, but the various injuries felt better.

" _Nerra_ , you need to eat," Ax said after a long silence. "I can get ya some food. But you might wanna back it off for a li'l bit. Ya eat too much too quick and you die."

"I really needed to know that," Maul muttered.

Ax shrugged. "Tis the truth."

The Zabrak sighed. He wouldn't mind crashing on a couch, just as long as he wasn't outside. But this was looking better and better. He would get what he needed from this Cathar and then he would ditch the male. He was going to do that and he would try to forget being grateful for Ax helping him. He wasn't supposed to let other people help him!

But he still nodded pathetically at the offer of oatmeal.


	5. Pathetic

Maul felt like he was _pathetic_. First of all, he was **drooling** over a bowl of instant maple syrup oatmeal. The again, he was used to eating raw rat meat. His Master had given him a test and here he was, throwing all of Sidious' lesson back in his feet. Half of Maul wished he had his lightsaber so he could throw it back in Ax's face and steal his ship. He'd go to Mustafar, wait for his Master, and try to show that he was a good Apprentice. He'd done everything his Master had wanted. Maul had survived in what would kill a Jedi. He'd done the impossible. He'd survived. He would be stronger for it.

The bowl Ax passed in front of him smelled **wonderful**. Ax nodded and moved back. Maul considered his options. He needed to be careful with what he ate. He'd been starving for far too long. He might get sick--or even die if he tried too much too soon. It was called "refeeding syndrome". Maul had only heard of it because his Master had encountered a starving Acolyte. The man had wolfed everything down, but died with a smile on his face. Maul didn't want that to be him. He picked up the spoon Ax gave him and hesitantly took a bite. It tasted really, _really_ good. So he ate a little more, but stopped after his belly felt uncomfortably full.

"You sure you don't need anymore?" Ax asked. He seemed like a decent person, but Maul didn't believe in decent people. There was no Darkness or Light, only power and those unafraid to grab it. "I mean, you're still pretty skinny. You don't need to stop eating!"

Maul glared at him. "I don't want to die, Cathar. You can get killed from eating too much too soon. I've seen it happen."

"Then don't do that," Ax managed. He looked slightly green. Maul smiled inside and nibbled a little more. He was feeling a little sick. He pushed the bowl away and tried to get his legs under him. Maul hurt all over. He wanted to just curl up and sleep, but he had to conquer his body and be strong. He was a Sith! Not a weakened Jedi! He had to do this. He had to salvage what was left of his pride and do what he needed to do. He glared at Ax. Ax shifted in his seat, his tail twitching slightly. Maul wasn't sure what that meant, if anything.

"I'm not stupid," Maul growled. Technically, he ate meat. He was a carnivore by nature, but like a lot of those animals, he ate whatever he had to survive. And he'd been hungry for far too long. Maul stood awkwardly. The stitches in his side pulled a little. He grimaced at the pain. Ax must have noticed, but he said nothing. Good. The Cathar was trainable. He wouldn't understand Maul's constant need for something he could control. Right now, that was the amount of pain his body was in. A little bit of pain kept his body sharp and alert.

"I didn't say you were," Ax murmured. Something flickered in his yellow eyes. Maul felt a little...concern? About his welfare? was over the Cathar's body. That just didn't make sense. Maul sighed and filed the mystery away for later. It wouldn't do to muse over what was likely just a big ball of meaningless poodoo. And he was a karking fool if he let his guard down. "You wanna sleep? Or **do** you sleep? I mean, I've got a couch. The spare bunkroom is filled with shit from one of me other jobs, but we can shovel it out."

"I need to get to Mustafar," Maul growled.

Ax looked at him like he'd grown three heads and a snake tail. "What the _hell_?! Why in Saint Murphy's holy name you wanna go **there**?!"

"That's where I'm from," Maul hissed.

"No wonder ya gotta screw loose," Ax muttered. He sighed as he pulled out a holographic map. "There ain't nothin' on that hell pit except lava and toxic gas. You're already beat up, mate! You'll die!"

"I'll die if I fail," Maul hissed.

"No, you're not." Ax curled his tail around his ankles. "You're not gonna die. Somewhere, out there, there is someone lookin' for you. Mate, kids, sister, brother, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, I don't give a gundark's ass. But you survived this hell hole. I'm not letting you die on Mustafar!"

It was on the tip of Maul's tongue to tell him about Sidious's base, but he decided not too. It wasn't Maul's place to spill those sacred secrets. He'd die first! But he had to go back to his Master and plead forgiveness on the bended knee. He'd failed fighting those Jedi. He'd let an old man and a boy steal the Chosen One from his Master's grasp. As much as Maul wasn't happy about finding his future Master or replacement, he was loyal.

"There's no one for me," Maul snarled. "They're _dead_." A little feeling whispered in the back of his mind, reminding Maul of the one time he hadn't followed his Master's orders. Of course, Sidious had found out. Maul had been punished by sending him on a suicide mission. Yet...he had succeeded. Even with all the things that happened on Corg Hive Seven and all of the scars on his back. Maul was a survivor.

Ax looked insulted. "What am I? Chopped liver?!"

"That would actually go down very nicely right now," Maul mused. "But not raw." He shuddered. "I've had enough raw meat to last a life time."

The Cathar reached across the table and touched Maul's hand. Maul jumped. Ax had claws! He could easily shred him, let the blood just start flowing everywhere and Maul would die and-- "I'm not going to start clawing you," Ax growled. "You scared the shit outta me, mate. But ya gotta a friend. I'm not gonna let you go kill yourself. Friends don't let friends commit suicide by lava planet."

Maul glared at Ax. "What if I don't think you're my _friend_?"

"Bantha poodoo," Ax smirked. "You'll learn to love me! Everyone does!"

"Sith don't love," Maul snarled.

"Yer a Zabrak," Ax sagely said. "Not this Sith thingy. It's like the Force. Poodoo and fairy tales. All designed to kill the little ones from gettin' outta bed at night and annoying the parents. Please don't tell me you still believe that shit."

_How can one being be so stupid?!_

Maul held out his hand and levitated the half full bowl. Then, in a fit of spite, he dumped it in Ax's lap. In retrospect, this wasn't his best move, but Maul was irritated. "You believe me now?"

Ax reached for his flask. "I don't think you're an evil spirit. You eat, for one thing." The Cathar threw a pinch of salt at him. Maul flinched as it settled on his robes. "And you don't dissolve from salt."

"What am I?! A slug?!"

"You're not a daemon," Ax muttered. He took a big swallow. Maul beat a tattoo on the table with his claws. Of all the superstitious idiots...

"Thank you so very much for clearing that up," Maul growled. "Where's your couch?"

Ax just picked him up, bridal style, and ignored Maul's squall of protest as he was dumped on a ratty bed.


	6. Snooping

The bed was too soft for him. Maul was used to sleeping on a wadded up ball of canvas, not on a bed with a mattress, blankets, and sheets. It was too soft amd he couldn't sleep. His belly was also uncomfortably tight. He'd probably eaten too much in his condition. That was not what you wanted to do when you had been starving. He groaned and finally picked himself off the bed and took the floor. The wet clothes weren't helping. However, the other option was wearing a t-shirt that said Meddle Not in the Affairs of Dragons, For You are Crunchy and Taste Good With Ketchup. Maul couldn't see the point in that. Or the point in the shirt that said Warning: You Might Go Blind From My Sheer Awesomeness.

Yes, he was bored. Yes, he was snooping through Ax's clothes. Yes, there was cat hair on everything and it was going to itch in unmentionable places if he put Ax;s under clothes on. No, Maul was not stupid. Ax was probably passed out drunk in the common room.

He finally found a book tossed under the bed. Maul grabbed it with the Force and casually flipped it open. Three hours later, he was deeply engrossed in a story about half alien cheerleaders (what the hell was _that_?) jumping around like kangaroos and punching the daylights out of bad guys. Oh, and rescuing the handsome jock (again, not something he was familiar with) and blowing the feet off of these sinister MIB. All before game time. It was a lighthearted book and Maul felt an unfamiliar expression slide across his face as he read it. Of course, the cheerleader and the jock kissed at the end.

Maul put it down. He was rather confused by the whole thing. Were the MIB another name for the Sith? And wasn't the girl a Force-user? She was certainly jumping around like one! And she was using lightning to destroy the secret battle plans to blow up her planet and stun the bad guys. All because her mother had been captured. Just because the girl had super secret powers and was able to use the Force. Personally, Maul didn't see the point in rescuing the mother. She should have just knocked out the man in the black leather jacket and stolen his things to take over the world. That was what Maul would have done. He just couldn't understand why she would have loyalty to just one person.

The mate, he could understand. Maul had once almost had a mate, but Sidious...had discovered it. He had tried to Force Maul to kill her, but Maul had disobeyed his Master. He'd given Kilindi enough time to escape and suffered for it. So he could understand the girl using her lightning to torture the MIB into letting her mate go. But he couldn't understand blowing up the super secret weapon just to make a point! The girl had so much potential! She could have ruled her world and used her powers to make the entire planet love her!

He got up and placed the book reverently on the nightstand. Ax didn't take care of his possession. Maul didn't need the sleep a Cathar did, and he was bored. So he went through Ax's closet and came across a magazine filled with pictures of semi naked females, plus a sizeable helping of males. He went through that one before dropping it, too confused to continue. He could see no point in that at all. The cheerleader story was clearly an allegory about seizing power when you could. Or being smart enough to realize what was at the tip of your fingers. The magazine? Served no purpose whatsoever.

The next thing he found was a blaster. Maul tucked that in his pockets and continued searching through the closet. All the interesting things he found was a carved dagger (he stole that, too) and what looked to be a petrified slice of some kind of food. Maul turned around and looked at the mess if a cabin. Did Ax never pick up after himself?! Had he no Master to teach him to keep his quarters clean? Maul groaned and bent down as best he could. The petrified food went in the trash bin and he started gathering up all of the mess. The dirty clothes were tossed in a pile by the door. The books and magazines were placed neatly in the book shelf. Maul was bored and he was feeling the odd itch to organize the entire slop heap.

Call it a habit beaten into him by his Master.

He sighed and gathered up the various bottles stashed around the room. Maul couldn't stand the mess. It was a pleasant enough distraction from the nightmares that plagued him more often than not. Maul even made up the bed. Though the sheets smelled like they hadn't been changed in ages. He sat back down on a recently excavated chair and waited for Ax to come back. If the Cathar was drunk, he was going to Force the secrets out of him, because Maul wasn't staying on this hell hole any longer than he had to. He hated Lotho Minor. And it hated him.

The door eased open and Maul jumped. A bleary eyed Ax stumbled into the room and reached for a pile of clothes that was no longer there.

"What happened?" he groaned. "Where did my clothes go?"

"Do you never clean your room?" Maul hissed.

"Asshole." Then Ax staggered a few feet and collapsed in a snoring heap.

Maul had had it. He bent down, ignored the stabbing pain in his side, and placed his hands to Ax's head. "You want to tell me the access codes for this ship."

"Sure..." Ax slurred. " 's Rachel's Lover."

Maul blinked. "You cannot be serious."

"Her name's Rachel and she's my girl," Ax managed before he was out.

It didn't matter that Maul had never flown a frigate before. He stepped over the unconscious Cathar and forced himself to walk to the bridge. He repeated the words to the microphone. Lights flashed on the ship's bridge and the comm screens blinked the life.

"Welcome, Captain Amazing," the computerized voice intoned. "Where you you like to go?"

"Corellia!" Maul almost yelled. "Engines online!"

"You are not Captain Amazing. _Switchblade_ powering down."

"No, damn you!" Maul screamed. Unfortunately, Force tricks did not work on AI. "Rachel's Lover! Captain Amazing is passed out on the floor! Now, unless you want us to get scrapped, power up your Forced damned engines!"

The AI blinked at him before the engines rumbled to life. "Designation: Unknown. State Designation."

"Maul." Maul grimaced and sat down. "And change "Captain Amazing" to Captain Ni. There's nothing amazing about that drunk fool."

"Designation: Maul saved to memory banks. Designation: Captain Amazing changed to Designation: Captain Ni. Estimated time to Corellia: Two days, fifteen hours, thirty minutes, and eighteen seconds. Thrusters starting now. Engines at one hundred percent. Shields at one hundred percent. Entering hyperspace in approximately ten minutes."

He sat down in the Captain's chair. If Ax had a problem with it, Maul would bash his head in. It wasn't his fault Ax was a drunk. Maul wanted off of that planet and he wanted off **now**. He was going to get what he wanted for once in his life. It seemed like the _Switchblade_ had full autopilot. That was good. He could work with that. Maul settled back and waited for the ride to be over.

So why did he feel bad for what he'd done to Ax?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lesson learned: don't go snooping through other people's possessions.
> 
> Maul, you just missed the point of the entire damn story.


	7. I Have Brothers?!

Thankfully, Ax accepted that he was drunk at the time when he gave Maul the codes to the _Switchblade_. Maul hadn't wanted to pull another trick on him for some bizarre reason. He just couldn't place it. Why was he feeling this way? He certainly had never felt regret over what he'd done to his Master! So why did it bother him that he'd stolen from this crazy beast man? And that he had used the Force to get answers out of his head? He just wasn't familiar with all of this.

They were relaxing on the bridge. Ax had given Maul one of his books (this one about dragons. At least they did what they were supposed too). Maul kicked up his legs on the console. He was feeling oddly...content? He wasn't running in fear or being attacked. No one was demanding that he go and fight Jedi like a true Sith should. He was just allowed...to be. With this crazy Cathar who had saved him from Lotho Minor. It galled him that he felt a little sympathy and loyalty to the creature. He was a Sith! This wasn't supposed to happen! He wasn't supposed to _like_ people!

"You know, my headache has gone away," Ax mused. He flicked through the holographic pages of a shipping manifest. "I'd gotten it ever since I entered the system. Just a real **pounding**."

Maul's blood ran cold. The Force whispered in his ear, telling him that **he** had been screaming so loud a _Force Null_ could hear it. "And when did you get this "headache"?"

"That's the funny thing. Around evening, Lotho Minor time." Ax sipped on something in a flask. Maul was getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't from the worm medicine he was currently taking. His Master _must_ have heard him. Sidious couldn't have missed him if he was screaming that loud! If he was screaming so loudly through the Force that an alcoholic _Force Null_ could hear him, Sidious must have heard him. Then why hadn't he sent a search party? Why hadn't he at least tried? Why hadn't he sent Acolytes to find him? Why hadn't he sent food and medical care? _Why_? _Why had he been... **abandoned**_? "Maul? You okay?"

"I'm fine," Maul numbly said. He took a shuddering breath, his talons closing around the spine of his book. Sidious did not care if he lived or died. If a Force-Null could hear him, the Sith Master could. Every Force-user from Lotho Minor to Teardrop could have heard him. He had been screaming, he'd been begging, he'd been pleading, and **nothing**. Sidious had **_abandoned_** him. Left him to _die_ on Lotho Minor. Knowing, full well, that Maul was alive and in pain. That he was dying of thirst and hunger. That the wolves had bit him and Maul had been barely able to hold them off. That he'd been reduced to eating raw meat, just to stay alive.

"You don't look okay," Ax worriedly said.

"Just how drunk were you when you programmed the _Switchblade_?" Maul tried to change the topic of conversation. He couldn't think about this. Couldn't think aboutit without a horrible feeling of _loss_ and _weakness_ flooding his body. The one reason he'd been staying alive had been so his Master could welcome him home. He'd been fighting to prove that he was strong enough to be the Sith Apprentice. He didn't want to be replaced! He'd fought so hard, he'd endured so much...

"I was kinda buzzed and you're not answering my question," Ax growled. He tipped Maul's head up, concern in his yellow eyes. Maul snarled and flinched back. Ax pressed on. Cathars weren't like other species. They were protective of their friends and family. For some strange reason, Maul didn't want Ax to take Sidious on and die. He wasn't used to feeling so...loyal to another person.

He was still numb on Corellia. Maul walked with Ax, trying to gather his thoughts. There was no point in going back to Mustafar. He couldn't. He wasn't supposed to survive that mission, he saw now. He was supposed to have died. Sidious didn't want him back. Ax, for some reason, seemed content to let him stay. Maul needed to get his feet under him. Everything he'd ever known had been yanked out from under him. So much pain. All because Sidious wanted rid of him. He clearly needed to keep his head under if he was to survive. The Acolytes had always hated him. Now, they had free range to kill. He was in danger. He'd have to stay sharp if he wanted to survive.

"Why don't you get yourself some clothes?" Ax casually asked. "I need to meet up with my contacts and it'll go better if I don't have you scowling over me shoulder. I'm scary enough to a couple a Duros."

"Fair enough," Maul conceded. He peeled off, looking through the various market stalls. Ax dressed in t-shirts and pants. He didn't wear boots. Maul liked his robes, but he was a walking target if he kept walking around dressed like a Sith. Okay. He could do this. He could buy all of his clothes in black and get new boots. Plenty of beings wore all black. Maul was not going to strut around wearing a pink shirt that screamed "This is YOUR Girlfriend's Shirt!". Number one...he'd had a mate. Number two...no. He had more dignity than that. And most beings were very receptive to his Force tricks. Maul hadn't had to pay for things since...ever. The Force was such a wonderful thing.

Three hours later, he was walking back with an armful of black shirts, black pants, and black sashes. His new boots were on his feet. Also, of course, in black. He'd ditch the robes in the _Switchblade_. Maybe they could be mended. He'd try, at least. He could get the needle and thread. He could do the other whenever. Something stopped him. Maul looked around, his senses on high alert. Something...was off. He wasn't sure what, but something was. Maul took a deep breath as he looked around. There wasn't anything he could _see_ , but that didn't mean anything. He tossed the things he had in the _Switchblade_ 's hull before looking around. Whoever it was had the Force. It might even be an Acolyte.

Maul gritted his teeth. He needed a lightsaber. He'd like to have his staff, but that was in the trash on Naboo. He wasn't setting foot **there** if he could help it, ever again. The red Zabrak touched the Force, listening to it flow. Two figures glowed brightly with it. He cocked his horned head, seeking the two of them out. They felt... _familiar_? Maul ran them past his internal databank of Force users he knew. It wasn't one of the Acolytes. It was...something else. Nothing he could understand, only that they knew him. They were so...familiar to him, bring to find hazy feeling of love and contentment.

Was he a person before Sidious? Was he just another Dathomirian slave who just so happened to be given to the Dark Lord? That Sidious had been so kind to take in when they should have just fed him to the rancors? What if there were _more_ like him? What if he wasn't as alone as Sidious always said he was? What if...what if...what if...these people had known him before? What if they knew him when he was just a child? What if...?

"I don't think we're supposed to go this far, Savage. We'll never make it in time for your Warrior trials!"

Maul melted into the shadows, trying to look at the two figures. Two males, Dathomirian Zabraks like him, walking through the dock. One taller, his markings done in jet black. They looked...similar to Maul's. The other, smaller, his markings done in brown. Both were yellow. Both had the Force. Both of them carried themselves in the same worn hopelessness a slave did. Maul's golden eyes narrowed. Why were they doing this? Why were they on...Corellia?

"I don't care," the taller one snapped. He pushed the younger male into the ship. Maul moved forward, as powerful as a coiled viper. He formed his talons into a claw like Ax did. He needed to learn how to claw fight. He had them, so why no use them? "You're my brother! I'm not going to let her use you!"

"But it's the best for the tribe!" the smaller one protested. "If I can just--"

" _No_ ," the older one snarled. "You're not going to do that. You are going to stay on Corellia and be a healer like you always wanted to! You have the talent, Feral."

"But I can't," Feral whispered. Maul crept up beside them and veiled himself in shadows. It was a useful trick. He liked doing it, even. Some said that sneaking up on their enemies was a coward's way out. Maul had never seen it that way.

"Talzin already took our brother. She's not taking you, either," the older one sighed. "I'll say the Jedi took you. It's believable enough."

_Talzin already took our brother._

Maul almost dropped the trick. Those words echoed in his head. They had a brother. They had a brother who had been taken. Maul had been told he had brothers who were killed by Jedi. He knew Sidious had lied to him about saving him if he needed it. If Sidious would lie about that, would he lie about Maul's brothers? Would he do that?

"She'll kill you," Feral protested. " _Please_ , Savage..."

"She'll make me her mate," Savage growled. "I'm tough, brother. I'll be fine. You...I don't want that to happen to you. They'll kill you."

Maul dropped the trick. Savage snarled and grabbed an energy sword. Maul threw Feral across the dock and grabbed Feral in the Force. He wrapped it around the male and forced him to his knees. Savage snarled and fought it off with a clumsy, untrained burst. Maul pinned Feral easily, focusing on Savage. The other male started trying to force him off. Maul bared down harder and held him there.

"Now," Maul snarled. "Care to explain to me why you're wearing _my_ tattoos? Are you my replacement?" He hissed the last word and pressed Savage to the duracrete. "Sidious isn't even letting the ashes get cold, is he? What did he promise you? Power? Fame? Riches? Let me tell you this-- _he will leave you to die_."

"Who the kark are you talking about?!" Savage snarled. He struggled. Maul smacked Feral a little more. The smaller brother wailed and a look of horror crossed Savage's face. "You _monster_."

"I've been called worse," Maul hissed. "Who. Is. Your. Master?"

"What day of the week is it?" Savage shot back.

"Piss me off and I'll break his neck," Maul growled.

"Do that and I'll slaughter you," Savage vowed. He was clearly strong, but no match for Maul's training. Maul made Feral gasp, just to prove his point. Savage looked back as best he could. Maul stood there, the rage showing in his golden eyes. "Stop! You're hurting my brother!"

Maul relaxed...a little. "Who tells you what to do?"

"Mother Talzin, mostly," Savage admitted. "Who tell _you_ , brother?"

"No one," Maul spat. "I do what I want when I want."

"Let him go and I'll tell you whatever you want," Savage pleaded. "I don't know who you are. I've never see you in my life!"

But Feral was a different story. Too late, Maul realized that the little Zabra had gotten free. He stood up, rubbing his arms. Then the Nightbrother almost glowed across the duracrete before touching Maul's face. He growled a warning, but _something_ flowed across them and Feral drew back.

"He's our brother," Feral announced. "The one who Talzin sold."

"Hell of a way to introduce yourself!" Savage growled. Then he drew back his fist and punched Maul in the face.


	8. Like a Lion

The blow caught Maul completely by surprise.

Savage's fist smashed into the side of his mouth, snapping his head around. Maul snarled in pain and reared back. He reached for the Force. It seemed to spring to life in his hands, throwing Savage back several feet. The other Zabrak met him with a clumsy burst of his own. Maul snarled. He slashed at him with it, focused on grabbing the other male's energy sword. Savage seemed to remember that he had it and it flared to life in his hands. Maul's eyes narrowed. He evaded the downward slash. He jumped with the Force, landing on top of a pile of crates. Feral seemed to be the main reason. He wanted to kill this male and get it over with. Kill the Acolyte and hide the body. There. That he could do.

The little male, Feral, seemed to be the reason why Savage was fighting. Maul wanted to cut the head off the snake. He jumped backwards, cursing the fact that he had no weapon. But that didn't mean he couldn't steal one. Maul took another Force aided leap and snagged the blade out of Savage's hands. The Force hit him in his bad side, causing Maul to double over. Seconds later, a savage blow sent him to his knees. Maul cried out in pain. Thick, black claws lacerated his side and slashed at the place where stitches held his body together. Maul screamed in agony. He raised his hands and pushed Savage back a few feet, but the damage was done. He numbly looked at the bloody hole in his side. The bigger Zabrak snarled in rage.

Claws sliced down the side of his face, ripping through flesh and muscle. Then a fist pounded the side of his head and something _snapped_. For one horrible second, the entire world stood still. Maul looked at what the other Zabrak was holding, at the blood that dripped from his base. Then the pain hit. Whirling, screaming, agonizing _pain_. He let out such an unearthly scream that Maul wasn't sure that it was **him** until he saw Savage flying backwards. Maul staggered, whimpering from the pain. Everything hurt. His ribs ached. His side had another gaping hole. His head...oh, his head was pounding.

Someone helped him up, supporting most of his weight.

"Brother! He's had enough!" Feral grabbed his shoulder. Maul, stunned from the pain in his head, didn't fight. He was weak, wasn't he? If he couldn't even fight off a pair of barely trained _Acolytes_ , he **deserved** the pain and violation and torture that would follow. He would deserve all of it for his weakness. He was _pathetically_ weak. First he let Lotho Minor leave him depending on a alcoholic Force-Null and here he was, letting two Nightbrother **_slaves_** defeat him! Acolytes would have tortured him already. They had never liked him (probably because he'd killed several of them to prove a point to Sidious). They would have spread his legs open and took turns violating him until they grew bored of the sport and killed him.

"He threatened to kill you," Savage snarled. "I'm keeping you off of Dathomir!"

"He's already injured!" Feral snapped. Maul allowed the smaller Nightbrother to help him up the ramp to Ax's ship. Thankfully, the _Switchblade_ seemed to recognize that Feral was a guest. Maul hoped that it killed Savage. He really didn't like the other Nightbrother. Feral? He could stand. Feral was helping him. Feral was helping him walk through the ship. Maul walked numbly. He tried not to stumble, though his body ached. He'd lost. If Sidious had seen that, he would have been well within his rights to punish him. Maul had failed. He'd let that _animal_ Savage defeat him. All because he was a weak, pathetic, waste of a Sith.

Maul held his side, watching as the blood leaked through his hands. If anything, the half healed wound hurt even more. He'd ripped it open and he'd lost a battle. Wasn't he just wonderful? He was a weak, pathetic failed Apprentice. Maybe his Master had been right in getting rid of him. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be a Sith. Maybe he should have just died on Lotho Minor.

Feral gestured for him to sit down. The little Zabrak removed his shirt and hissed when he saw the bloody wound. Maul watched him with narrowed golden eyes. Feral placed his hands over it and glorious _warmth_ spread throughout the injury. Feral hummed in approval as the wound sealed itself around his fingers. Hands brushed over his ribs and righted the places where they had been fractured and healed wrong. Maul felt himself release a pain he hadn't even known he'd been in. The smaller Zabrak moved up to his head, sealing up the four long gashes. He healed up the ends of Maul's broken nails. Maul found himself watching somewhat numbly. He was aware of Savage watching from the doorway but didn't want another fight.

"I don't know why you're wasting the energy on him," Savage grumbled. Maul didn't, either. He was a worthless, failed Apprentice. Feral had better things to do with his energy.

"He's our brother," Feral insisted. He stood up, looking at Maul's bloody head. "You tried to kill him, remember?"

Savage crossed his arms. "If I go home, I know I'm going to die. If I ditch you here, I'm going to die. If I fight him, I might have a chance. Do you see where I'm going here?"

Maul did. "Listen to your brother," he rasped. "I'm not worth it, no matter what you think. I'm not worth the pain."

Feral glared at him. "You felt it through the Force, didn't you? You felt your Life Force reacting to mine. That's a good thing. That means we're brothers. It also means that you're related to Savage over there, but we can't have the good without the bad."

The bigger Zabrak growled softly. Maul answered back with a weak growl. The other Zabrak ignored him and went back to glaring at him. Maul sighed and looked at the metal floor. Feral seemed to be concerned with a few of his older injuries. The missing horn wasn't that bad. He'd just be in some pain. Maul was used to pain. He'd felt pain for ages. Pain was easier than anything else. Pain could be channeled into the Dark Side.

"I've never seen you in my life," Maul hissed. "My family is dead."

"Whoever told you that fed you a line of rancor poodoo," Feral smirked. "Savage and I are very much alive, thank you very much."

Maul felt, rather bitterly, that his Master had lied to him before. What would make him not lie about his family? Maul had been told they were dead. He had been told that Mother Talzin hadn't wanted him, so she'd just given him to Sidious. He looked up, taking in the similarities between himself and Savage. Keen amber eyes met his. Savage's tattoos looked about like his, his horns were about the same size, and his basic features closely mirrored his. Maul swallowed and looked back down. He was in too much pain to fight. There wasn't anything he could do right now. He ached all over.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Maul muttered. He glared at Savage. "Brother or not, I hate you."

"I feel the exact same way," Savage growled. He angled his head at Feral. "Touch him and you die."

Maul tapped his pinky talon on Feral's ragged shirt. The owner of said shirt made an exasperated noise and rolled his eyes. "I touched him. Now what are you going to do about it?"

"He is going to do nothing but get in contact with this ship's Captain," Feral announced. "And you are going to let him."

Maul snorted. "Do I have much of a choice?"

"No, you don't," Feral retorted. "You have a concussion and you were beat up _before_ Savage worked you over. Savage? It might take you a little bit to get over Alanox's spells. Please don't try to beat him up until you're in your right mind? Please? You already damaged him pretty good. And he was hurt before we got here."

Savage, much to Maul's surprise, inclined his head. "I won't hurt him if he doesn't hurt you."

The red Zabrak closed his eyes. He needed to rest after the fight. Lotho Minor had weakened him more than he cared to admit. That wouldn't be going away any time soon. Feral was a medic. Feral was useful. He could handle Feral. Ax was a crazy beast man, but he was as brave as a lion. Savage...was something else. Maul wasn't sure if he liked that one or not.

He was getting weak. Feral's...kindness...would cause him to get soft and he would die. There. It was as simple as that, so Maul started to steel himself against the creeping tendrils that had already started to grown inside him. Maul accepted the blanket, though, and felt exhaustion drape over him. It wouldn't hurt to pass out in the bed for a little bit...


	9. A Karking Big Fight

Maul wasn't sure how long he slept. He just knew that he did, his body exhausted from being healed ad the battle with Savage. He wasn't sure how much he liked Feral, but he did know that he hated Savage. That devil deserved to die. Maul was going to get him back--just after he was all healed up. Feral was right, he was injured. He didn't need to hurt himself even more. Maul was many things, but stupid he was not. Not even when it came to dealing with things such as his supposed "brother". A slight smile tugged on his lips as he thought of what the beast-man would do to Savage. Ax didn't fight fair. He'd kill if he felt like it. He was a killer. So was Maul, but he was still injured. He still hurt all over.

"What the hell are ya doing on me ship?!"

The red Zabrak jerked awake. Maul got his feet under him stiffly as he walked over. This he had to see. He closed his eyes as he tried to gather his strength. He was far more injured than he felt like. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Lotho Minor had done a number on him. He just wanted to go to sleep and leave  the world alone. He was injured. It sucked. He needed to watch this and look at what the big Cathar was going to do to that damn Zabrak. Maul managed to walk to the main living area. And there was Ax, his ears laid flat against his head. Savage was standing back there, his golden eyes dark. Feral was huddled in the back of the room, holding the cat.

"Why are ya covered in the blood of _my_ Zabrak?" Ax hissed. He crouched down and hissed. Savage backed up. Ax growled low, his claws sliding into place. Maul wasn't betting on Savage. The Cathar moved forward like oiled silk, snarling low. He tossed his head. Savage took the hint. He dropped low and pulled a dagger from his belt. Maul raised an eyebrow. Ax snarled low as he paced forward. His tail was twitching back and forth as he walked. Then he lunged like greased lightning. The claws sliced at thin air where Savage's head once was. The Zabrak jerked around. His knife whistled through the air and sliced at him. Ax darted aside. He whirled around, his fangs bared as he lunged.

Claws sliced down the side of Savage's face. Savage snarled. He gashed Ax down the side with the dagger. Gouts of blood and clumps of fur flew through the air. The Cathar reared back. He screamed at Savage. Maul flinched back. That thing didn't sound _human_! He lunged at Savage and sliced down the big Zabrak's side. Savage snarled in pain. He feinted at the Cathar. The Cathar stepped back. He lashed out at Savage, slicing down his forearm with outstretched claws. The other being growled his pain. Savage stabbed at Ax. Ax jumped out of the way and went straight at him. Two pairs of golden eyes glared at each other as they paced. Maul swallowed. Both males were bleeding. Savage's dagger was glistening with the Cathar's blood. Ax raised his claws to his lips and lapped the blood off of them. Hatred shone in golden eyes.

"Why are _you_ protecting him?" Savage hissed. "He hurt my brother!"

"He jumped me," Maul pouted. "I simply went for the soft target. It's a Sith thing."

Ax bought it. He angled his head towards Maul, his tail lashing back and forth as he looked Savage over. "I'm more inclined to believe **him** over **you** , Nightbrother!"

Savage actually growled. Maul tried not to laugh as he watched the cat creature prowl around. Savage must have realized that he was fighting something primitive and not quite thinking on his level. He looked over at the big Zabrak. Savage moved back as he looked at Ax. Ax lunged at him with the precision of a trained killer. That was when it hit him. Maul looked at the powerful Cathar, locked into battle with Savage. He could train Ax. If he could bring the Cathar to heel (they were a stubborn race), then he could have the galaxy's greatest weapon at his beck and call. Maul grinned softly. Now. That was something he could do. Ax was like a big cat. You could train cats, it's just hard. And Maul was pretty sure he could train Ax.

"He'll kill you," Savage snarled. "And I'll watch and laugh!"

"No, he won't." Ax jerked his head at Savage. "I'll kill you. I'm going to kill you."

"No one is killing anyone." The little male, Feral, held up his hands. The other two dropped back. Savage growled and Ax cocked his head. Maul watched the exchange casually. "Maul is our brother."

"He's not our _brother_ ," Savage spat. "If a Cathar owns him like a common slave!"

"I'm no one's slave," Maul softly said. "Do continue. Don't stop just because I'm here. I was rather enjoying the fight. It is nice to have someone in your corner, I might add."

Ax took opportunity to lunge across the room. He knocked into Savage with a heavy blow and slapped his claws across Savage's face. The Zabrak lunged his head up. Ax grunted at the pain, but he slashed Savage again. The two males seemed to be going at it with all they had. Maul watched with a bored interest. They slashed and snarled at each other, bringing up more gouts of blood that seemed to spray through the air.

"Beast!" Savage hurled Ax across the room. Ax bounded to his feet and lunged. His next slash opened up Savage's shoulder to the bone.

"Stop!" Feral screamed. "Please, Captain! He has a spell on him! My brother's mind is not his own!" Feral grabbed Ax's shoulders and started to pull the Cathar off the Zabrak. Savage groaned and picked himself off of the floor. He ran a hand across the slashes, horror dawning in his eyes.

"What have I _done_?" he whispered.

Ax hissed. "Best not to touch me right now, Zabrak." He drew back from the Zabrak, the flames dying down in his golden eyes. Maul fought the urge to rub the Cathar's ears in praise. They could do that later. "I'm more cat than man. You oughta know that, mate."

"I know." Feral helped his injured brother up, trying to gather his thoughts. Maul watched with keen eyes. "It will go badly if both of us return to Dathomir. I don't want to go back, but I don't want to condemn Savage to a life of slavery. My brother should be sane in a few day's time. Alanox is not very strong."

" _Yet_ ," Savage moaned. Maul looked over at the other Zabrak. Could they have a common ground? And why was he thinking like that? That wasn't good for a Sith like him to be empathizing with others. Was he going soft? Had this Cathar truly been affecting him that much? He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with it. He was supposed to train the Cathar, not want to be friends with him! The Cathar was weak. The Cathar had invited Maul into his home, his ship, and Maul was nothing but a snake in the grass.

"It doesn't matter." Feral took a deep breath as he tried to gather himself. "We...we don't want to be used for breeding."

It took Ax a few minutes before fire flickered back in his golden eyes. "Could you have said no?"

"No," Savage retorted. "They can make you go hard with a spell and keep you that way until they get bored. I've done it. It's not very fun. And it makes you hate them more than ever."

"That's wrong" Ax growled. He flicked his tail and looked at Savage's wounds. The bigger Zabrak swayed on his feet. The Cathat nodded, but Maul noted the ears still laid back on his skull. Ax was still a dangerous snake. He was still looking to kill. That, Maul could use to his advantage. He could play this. He knew what he was doing, even if he was probably making a mess out of it. "Just don't hurt Maul, all right? He was half starved on Lotho Minor, he doesn't need anymore shit outta you. You got it?"

Savage nodded. Maul hobbled back to the room he'd taken over. He needed to think and to purge this weakness from his soul.


	10. Chicken Soup

Ax seemed to think that the best course of action was feeding Maul chicken soup out of a can mixed with protein powder. The kind that had rice in it instead of noodles. And about half a can at a time. Not much, because too much would make him sick, but enough that Maul was getting what the Cathar said he needed. Feral made him some sort of gruel and pretty much forced him to eat it. Maul repaid his kindness by promptly barfing on the table. And then hobbling back in his room a sulking for a few hours. Plain water was out of the question. He had to drink this... _stuff_...that replenished electrolytes and your salts. Maul didn't like it. It was sticky sweet and salty at the same time. Disgusting, if you asked Maul.

But no one did and he was forced to drink it. The fact that _truly_ infuriated Maul was that he was slowly starting to get stronger. Slowly but surely. And Ax must have bought a month's supply because Maul was being forced to eat some in every meal. It turned the already nasty soup into jelly. Maul didn't like jelly. Maul being forced to eat nasty meat flavored jelly with little bits of crap stuck in it was a way to make him irritated. Add in the nasty drink and Maul was ready to throw something. Plus, it must have been working its foul magic on his unprotesting body because Maul felt himself getting stronger. And a little more irritable.

Feral's gruel was only _marginally_ worse. Maul finally got tired of it and hurled the still full bowl at the younger Zabrak's head. Fifteen minutes later, he was scrubbing gruel stains out of the walls and cursing Ax under his breath. Throwing food was a way to get yourself glared at. Ax had a **look**. A look that Maul swore could make Sidious go running for the hills. It had to do with the kind of creature he was. Ax was a Cathar. Ax had fangs and claws and he liked to use them. He'd even used them on Maul. He had the scars to prove it.

Ax and Savage sparred. Constantly. You couldn't go anywhere without those two going at it with sheathed claws on Ax's part and a marker on Savage's. They fought frequently and seemed to be learning each other's forms. Maul wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Feral, meanwhile, was usually messing around in the medical bay or meditating. He'd grabbed a virtual copy of the Jedi Path somewhere on Corellia (there was probably some very dejected padawan out there) and took to reading it. Maul read it, too, just to see what the enemy was thinking. It turned out to be a lot of bantha doo-doo.

"Won't you at least try it?" Feral matched paces with him as Maul stalked down to the hold. He still wasn't allowed to join the sparring sessions. They said he was still too weak and his body just wasn't ready yet. "I know you read that book. I know because you stole it."

"It's bantha shit," Maul shrugged. He settled on to Feral's bunk just the same. He liked sitting with the younger Zabrak. Feral was kind and calm. He wasn't as gruff a Savage and often knew how to ease Maul's pains. He'd ask questions. "The Dark Side provides all I need."

Feral muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "The Dark Side dumped you on Lotho Minor."

Maul chose to ignore it. He sat cross-legged like he was supposed to. Feral thought that teaching him meditation would help with the mood swings. And the fact that maybe he liked to follow Ax around. Not that Ax didn't like it, but that Ax was giving Maul an education on shipboard life. He'd already repaired the hyperdrive twice. Something about the _Switchblade_ ate manifolds. Ax liked to talk and gave Maul a running commentary on his kids and Rachel. Rachel was a human, he was a Cathar, they had two kids and they were going to marry when Ax got the money.

"The Dark Side makes me stronger," Maul argued. He settled back on the bed and tried to mirror Feral's movements. Feral took his pains away with the Force. Feral was good, Ax was good, Savage was an ass. They didn't like each other very much.

"I'm not arguing with you over stupid stuff," Feral finally sighed. "Just try it, okay? I gotta keep you entertained until Savage and Ax get done talking."

Maul grumbled, but he understood. Ax could only take one of the brothers at a time, probably because Savage and Maul tended to knock sparks off of each other. Little Feral seemed like he was everyone's best friend. Savage was cooler and more aloof. He didn't like to be around them as much as Feral did. Maul wanted food he could chew and he'd been getting more vocal about his desires. He was tired of the nasty, runny jelly-soup he was being forced to eat. He wanted real meat, not the nasty stuff out of a can! That didn't taste good! He didn't care if Ax made him eat organ meats (Maul liked liver), he wanted something much better. It was frustrating.

"I tried. It failed," Maul drawled. He leaned back on the bunk. "What have you been using to heal, might I ask?"

"A mixture of a Dathomirian healing spell and basic Force healing," Feral sighed. "Alanox, our...witch in training, wasn't careful with where she left her stuff. I read some of it and enjoyed it. It's how I learned healing. I'm self taught."

Maul thought back to his own injuries, the ones that Savage had given him. Feral had known how to fix them pretty easily, which told him that Savage hurt people on a regular basis. Well. Maul could live with that. He'd like to live with that. He'd also like a rematch of the fight whenever he got strong enough. But that would first include them letting him fight. But they weren't and it was getting old. He wasn't made of glass, kriffdammit!

"Hmm." Maul leaned back on the wall. He looked over at Feral, gauging the slender male's strength. He was strong in the Force, but not in anything else. Maul figured that was all that counted. He smiled slyly, trying to figure out his best move. "I could teach you a few things, you know."

"No thank you." Feral glared at him. "I'm not interested in dying, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself," Maul shrugged. He slid off the bed and walked away. Behind him, he heard Feral curse and punch the wall. Maul allowed a slight smile to grave his lips. Mission accomplished.


	11. Things Are Changing

"If I let ya train with us, will ya at least shut up about it?" Ax growled. His tail flicked back and forth as he glared at the Zabrak. Maul crossed his arms and decided to hold his ground. After all, he was a Sith and he was far stronger than any Cathar. Even if said Cathar had claws and fangs and knew how to use them. Maul liked to think of himself as the strongest Warrior on the block. And he was...to a point. As much as he liked to think he was, Maul still had to admit that he was sick from Lotho Minor. At least they had cleansed his body of the worms he'd picked up from drinking dirty water.

"Yes." Maul looked at Ax like the Cathar was stupid. "I can even teach Savage how to use the Force better."

"No." Ax gave Maul his **look**. "Yer not teaching anyone anything, got it? I don't want the other guy ta get hurt, okay? Yer big, yer tough, we get that. But I also don't want ya to get hurt like you were offa that hell hole!"

"Fine." Maul backed off a little bit. But as soon as he got his hands on a quarterstaff, life would be good. He could finally fight again! But the biggest rhing he'd have to over come would be getting Kyber crystals to build his lightsaber. He couldn't go to Illium or one of those other planets where the blasted things grew. Nor could he make a sabre unless he had a decent focusing stone like a hunk of quartz or the like. Sabres were ugly blades, but they rivaled a lightsaber (or saberstaff) for strength and power. They were also slightly more unstable than a lightsaber. They relied on natural crystals that weren't Force-attuned. As a result, they were more prone to overheating and exploding. Not what you wanted in the middle of a fight. That was what you tended to call a bad thing.

"Come on, then." Ax turned on his heels. Maul followed, trying to mull over his thoughts. Why was he feeling this way?! Ax was good to him,  yes, but Maul was a Sith Lord! He was supposed to spurn things such as this! He was supposed to kill his Master when the time was right, not run around the galaxy with a rag tag crew of Nightbrothers, Cathars, and a three legged cat! Speaking of, Prissy the cat loved him. The little tuxedo cat curled up on his bed every night. At first, Maul had kicked her out because he was a Sith Zabrak. Then again, he'd liked the cat so he let her stay. As Ax said, Maul had adopted his cat.

He didn't even understand about pets anyways.

Maul went through the warm ups in silence. He would say this about Ax, the man did know that you had to be careful about stretching an injured body. He let Maul take his time and said nothing, not even when the Zabrak grimaced from pain. After all, Maul was a Sith and he had to act like it. He gritted his teeth as he twisted around, trying not to hurt his bad side. He ached a lot. Ax said that was normal, he'd been hurt so much before that it was taking his body a  long time to heal from it. Maul hated to say it, but he was getting soft it he liked being praised from a _Force-null_.

Savage feinted at him. Maul darted aside, coming at him with a right hook. Both men dropped back at the last second. Savage stopped short at the last second. The red Zabrak lunged at him, his legs flying out. The yellow fell with a slight grunt. Both males surged up and grabbed each other in an arm lock. Savage flung Maul backwards. The smaller male landed in a heap. He picked himself up, swallowing. Savage dropped back. Maul inclined his head and got a drink of water. It felt good to drink plain water, not the nasty stuff he had been drinking.

"We're going to Concord Dawn," Ax casually said. He and Savage squared off, trading blows and dancing a dance of death. Maul had to admire the clean, smooth way both males fought. "Try not to get arrested, okay? The Protectors are having a slight issue with Death Watch and I'm not bailing you or Savage out of jail."

"You're tied in with Mandalore?" Maul asked. He rubbed his aching calf, trying not to betray how much he hurt. He'd wasted on Lotho Minor. It was time for him to get stronger again so he could kill Sidious. But first...he needed to get a weapon. Something like a darksaber, or even a sabre. His first choice was a saberstaff, but he wasn't enough of a fool to think he could get a weapon such as that on short notice. He needed to get something as quickly as he could so he could finish the job. Maul leaned back on the bench. Ax had taught him the basics of claw fighting. Pretty much, you used your claws and slashed. Nothing fancy about it. It was pretty simple, but highly effective.

"My girlfriend is Mandalorian." Ax took a drink too. Maul watched him, curious of how the male was doing. There was something...odd...about the way he felt whenever Ax mentioned he had a girlfriend. Maul couldn't place the emotion. It felt...bad, somehow? Like he wasn't supposed to be feeling sad that Ax was already tied in with someone else?

"Ah." Savage took his own drink of water. "Brother, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Maul lied. He got up and left the two in peace. He didn't know what he was feeling. The galaxy outside of Mustafar was big and bad and scary. Maul wasn't sure if he liked it or not. All he wanted to do he was get stronger so he could kill Sidious. Not have all of these  damn emotions flying around through his head! He didn't like them! He wanted them to go away and never bother him again!

There must have been a reason Maul was sequestered away from the outside galaxy. After all, he must stay true to the Dark Side of the Force. He had too, otherwise the Jedi would rule all and kill him. Just because he was borne from Nightbrothers and closer to the Dark Side than he was the Light. Maul didn't want to die. But here he was, spitting on the face of all his Master had ever done for him by mooning over some crazy Cathar. Maul sat down on his bunk, trying to gather his thoughts. He was a failure, wasn't he? He couldn't do anything right because he was a karking _failure_.

He'd failed his Master. He'd failed the Sith Order. He'd failed **himself**.


	12. Mandalore

Maul had been to four planets in his entire life. Mustafar, Coruscant, Lotho Minor, and Naboo. The last two had brought him nothing more than pain and fear. He'd been left for dead following the whole Obi-Wan Kenobi incident. Maul resolved that, if he ever saw that Jedi again, he was going to **rip** Kenobi to pieces and then stomp on the little bits. Yes, it was childish. But Maul had suffered quite a bit and he felt that he deserved a little revenge. Maul had started to spend most of his days in the _Switchblade_ in his quarters, building a saberstaff hilt. Maul scavenged the parts from the random poodoo in the engine room. Ax had a surprising set of tools, including a plasma welder. Ax said nothing if Maul used it for a few hours, just as long as he put his stuff up afterwards.

The hilt was long and slender this time. It was long enough for Maul to toss over his back and he even had a strap. He'd worked on the circuitry for **hours**. Maul had stolen the wires out of a defunct old generator and gotten the magnifying glass from the tool closet. Ax even had a soldering iron. It kept him busy and allowed Maul to plan for his revenge. The only things he didn't have were crystals. Without Kyber crystals, the staff was just a pretty hilt Maul made because he was bored.

"Let's go." Ax had dropped the _Switchblade_ on the landing pad. Maul curled one taloned hand around his dagger. It was unlikely these Mandalorians remembered much about Lord Revan. After all, that was several thousand years in the past. However, it always paid to be ready and Maul intended to never be caught flat footed. He walked beside the Cathar, golden eyes taking in the sight. Most of Concord Dawn was a high rise. The dock was on the outskirts and full of older ships like the Polaris classes. Maul looked over the scarred hulk of one such ship. She looked like a Polaris sub-type, the Firespray. Maul felt himself nodding as he looked over the other ships. They were mostly lighter ships with good shields and high powered turbos. Hmm. Maybe Maul _could_ get to like the Mandalorians.

Ax flagged down the local subway. Maul followed on his heels, watching as other people got on and off. A tired looking man holding a blonde boy, about ten years old, sat across from Feral. Another boy, this one dark haired, watched Maul with sharp eyes. There was also a Togruta girl who acted like she had to keep watch. Feral moved forward and touched the dark haired boy's hand.

"Hello," Feral smiled.

"Be nice, Boba," the man muttered. He seemed exhausted. Boba shifted in his seat and drew back. Maybe he was scared of all the weapons? Maul smiled, just a little. Ax kicked him in the shin as he grabbed a sheet of flimsi. "He said hello. What do you say back?"

The blonde boy looked up from his seat on the man's lap. "You say hello, _di'kutla_!"

"Rex called me stupid, _buir_!" the boy protested.

The older man sighed. "It's not his fault, Boba. Rex? You could do with being a little nicer."

"Kamino?" Ax looked over the sheet, grinning softly. "They look it."

The man made a disgusted noise. "They were treating these kids like _animals_. I wouldn't trust the Jedi with my **dog** , much less a couple thousand soldier-slaves. They were going to kill one of the kids for something and I grabbed all three of them, plus Soka."

Soka crossed her arms and glared at them all. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

Ax stifled a laugh. "You."

Maul tried not to roll his eyes. The weak died and the strong survived. That was the way such things worked in this galaxy of theirs. Couldn't this Mandalorian see that? If that kid was too stupid to follow the rules, he deserved the consequences. He settled back in the too-soft seat, trying to figure out how this was working. Why would a man choose to burden himself with children? When he could have just left and allowed nature to take it's course? That was the way Maul would have done it! Those kids were not his problem. He didn't want to deal with a trio of...

"Where's the third?" Savage blurted.

The man sighed. "Hospital. He choked on a lungful of poison gas. The docs said he'll live, but he's never gonna run again. Him walking up the stairs is gonna be a bloody _miracle_."

Maul's eyes widened. "Are you visiting him?"

"Yeah." The man seemed tired, like he wasn't sure what he was doing. Or like he wasn't good at it yet. "Soka wanted to take the dog, but the docs won't let dogs in the hospital and we were damn lucky to get him in there. I'm not letting him slip through my fingers. Kenobi owed me a turn and he's paid it in full."

"Kenobi?" Maul tried to keep calm as he listen closer now.

"Yeah, he's with the Duchess." The man settled back, rubbing Rex's blonde head. A little bit of Maul wanted to be that child, having an adult love him enough to defy the Jedi Order for him. "In Concord Dawn. You born under a rock or something?"

Maul wasn't sure where he was born, actually. He decided not to answer and instead followed Ax when he stood up. His eyes lingered back to the Togruta girl, Soka. The Force swirled around her like a maelstrom. Maul wanted an Apprentice. He wanted that child, but he was betting the Mandalorian man would have him on the ground in seconds. Sidious said that Mandalorians were right up there with Jedi when it came to being Sith killers.

Ax slipped off the underground train. Maul watched it rattle off and looked down at the platform. Ax grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. "You see the third rail? You touch that and you're popcorn. Several billion volts going through that."

Maul filed that in his list of ways to kill someone.

The Cathar seemed to know where he was going. The three brothers followed him. Maul was the wary one and he kept a hand on his dagger as he walked. They emerged on to the street and a variety of scents attacked his nose. Maul sniffed, curiosity in his golden eyes. The Cathar tugged him on. They past a crowd of people smoking something from a large pipe. One of them yelled something at Ax. Ax growled and lowered his ears at them. Other people were hawking colorful things at the crowd. Shirts and the like. Maul passed a shop selling reminders of your trip to Concord Dawn. Ancient houses were squeezed in beside tawdry restaurants and places of entertainment. A tour bus rattled past, squawking about the city's history.

The man and the children stuck out in Maul's mind. What man would save someone who was choking on poisoned gas? Had that man been asking to be killed? Was he just foolish? Or was it just a Mandalorian thing?

They finally came to a park before a series of row houses.

"Daddy!" Two children, younger than the man's, came running from the swings. "Daddy! You're home!"

Ax picked two of the up as a Mandalorian woman got up from her park bench. They kissed and Maul looked away. He had no chance, did he? He wasn't even sure what he wanted from the Cathar! But Ax already had a bond with this woman. That meant he had nothing. "Rachel, I need to talk with you about something."


	13. Is This What Home Is Like?

Maul really wasn't interested in what Ax wanted to talk to his girlfriend about. In fact, he couldn't have cared less. The one thing Maul **wanted** to do was actually get a bite to eat. He'd gotten in the habit of eating regularly on the _Switchblade_ and wasn't all that keen to get out of it. After all, as Feral said, he was still sick and he needed to be careful. Of course, that was **after** he'd gotten a bone crushing kick from Savage during a training match. Maul had come to Feral, demanding to be healed. Feral, in a fit of spite, had snapped at him and told him not to get hurt so much. Maul got his ribs wrapped, but he got none of the treatment and painkillers he wanted. Three days later, he was as sore as hell.

He wandered over to a tree and looked up it. When he was just a child, Sidious had allowed him to use his lightsaber to slice up a tree such as that one as a test of the weapon's power. This was before he was pushed in a frozen lake. There was a reason Maul would never go swimming if he could help it. He looked up at the low hanging branches, noting the ones that had been worn dull by years of children climbing it. He glanced over at Ax and Rachel. Judging by the expression, maul thought that she wasn't too pleased about the three Zabraks her boyfriend had picked up.

He climbed up the tree in swift movements. Just on a whim and just to prove to himself he could. When he was a child, at Osiris Academy, he and a young woman named Daleen had climbed _palbrush_ trees similar to the one he was in now. Sadly, it was just a silver birch and the smooth bark gave him little purchase. He relaxed up in the crooks of several branches, idly watching the world beneath him. Maul and Daleen had picked the sour-sweet fruits from the trees. She'd sliced them up with her little bronze dagger and they had shared, just watching the galaxy go by. As children.

Neither of them would know that in a mere few weeks, their Academy would be attacked by Death Watch raiders. Maul would be terrified. He would know that his Master had sent the raiders. He would give his Daleen time to escape by...doing things...for one of the Nautolan Warriors. A woman named Kilindi Maakato. Maul wouldn't know what they were really doing, but he would know that it gave his friend time to escape. He didn't know where she was now. Hopefully, Daleen had the sense to stay away from him.

"Maul?" Ax yelled from on the ground. "Come on! You need to come out from wherever you're hiding."

Maul sighed and climbed down the tree. He jumped the last ten feet and winced when the motion jolted his ribs. Ax cocked one eyebrow. Maul got a good look at the fearsome Cathar. Right now, he had a three year old with blonde fur and Rachel's icy eyes on his hip. The girl had long hair like a human's, but she had ghost stripes and what looked like a Cathar's tail. The other two, boys, romped on the grass beside a slavering, three headed beast. Rachel looked at him. Maul looked back.

"He was in a tree?" she muttered. "Tussat! Arkiz! Come on! Leave Ehn  alone for five minutes!"

Maul snorted. He didn't see the purpose of the three-headed beast, Ehn, but he kept his mouth shut. The animal was what looked like a large dog with three heads. It's top coat was jet black with a dusky brown under coat. It's ears stood at attention and intelligence shown in it's blue-grey eyes. The animal had a large collar around the middle head and one of the boys, Maul thought it was Tussat, was riding on its back. He raised one brow, looking at the scene. The dog wagged its tail and trotted over to him. The next thing Maul knew, he was on his butt with the dog slobbering all over his clothes with three mouths.

"Get it off!" Maul couldn't help but shriek and push the dog away.

Ax grabbed the beast by it's collar and dragged it away. "Ehn! Bad dog! We do _not_ push people over! Tussat! Get off the dog before you break his back!"

"Aww man," Tussat muttered. But he still slipped off the beast's back and clipped a lead to the chain around it's throat. Maul brushed the grass and glared at the beast. Savage stifled a laugh and helped him up. Ax was probably trying not to laugh as he started going wherever he needed to go. Maul resigned himself to sharing living quarters with a three-headed, slobbering beast. He gritted his teeth and walked on. This was not his idea of a good time, nor did he want to have to walk the dog. Ehn was a big dog. Ehn probably ate like a bantha and provided no help to Ax's girlfriend at all. So why did Ax even bother to have the animal? Beyond sheer entertainment value of him knocking innocent Sith over?!

They walked down a tree lined avenue. Maul happened to look over the fence to where it looked like Rachel had started a small herb garden. That struck Maul as odd. Why would you take the time to grow things you could just buy for less than half the time it took you to grow them? It made no sense! It also smelled like Rachel had simply made dinner earlier and put it in the oven. Maul's belly growled as he remembered it had been some time since he'd last eaten. Ehn the dog ran through the narrow house and flopped down on the couch. Zash, the three year old girl, dove after the dog as soon as Ac put her down.

Rachel insisted on Maul washing his hands. Rachel insisted that he use his knife to cut up the noodles instead of stuffing them in his mouth. Rachel insisted that he ask for the cooling sauce instead of grabbing it with the Force. Rachel snapped at him for bouncing a roll off of Savage's head (she also got mad at Savage for feeding it to the dog.). Rachel got irritated when when he grabbed the pitcher of _lassi_ (what tasted like a mango juice/tea that soothed the burn from the food) after he took a big bite and got a hot pepper. Rachel. Rachel. _Rachel_. Maul finally got irritated and snarled a few choice words at her.

The slap echoed across the room.

"Get. _Out_ ," Rachel hissed. "I don't want to see your face until you act like you weren't born in a barn!"

"Maybe I was!" Maul retorted.

Ax grabbed Maul by his shirt collar and deposited him outside.

The red Zabrak sighed and sat on a metal bench. Why was life this hard? Why couldn't they eat ration bars like a normal person? Why couldn't Sidious have at least **tried** to teach him how other people acted so he could just blend in?

"That dog used to be a fighting dog."

The red looked over. Ax dropped into the chair beside him, biting his bottom lip. Maul growled, but shifted aside.

"Stole him as a puppy from some guy who bred them and left 'em in a filthy cage. Poor thing was scared for _months_."

"And why do I care about your beast?" Maul growled.

"Honestly?" Ax shrugged. "Ya kinda act like Ehn the puppy. Ya sure as hell don't know what this life is like! I don't know who he was or what this "Master" of yours did, but he didn't do much in the way of manners. Ya gotta tough row to hoe, Maul. Ya gotta fight it out, though."

He hated being compared to a _dog_. Maul finally stalked off and hid in one of the guest rooms until he learned one thing: Mandalorian food is spicy twice.


	14. Preparations

Maul decided that he **hated** Mandalorian food. Not only did it burn _eating it_ , but it burned _getting rid of it_ , too! Ax seemed to think that it was funny when the only thing Maul ate for breakfast the next morning was the bowl of porridge with some sort of toasted nuts on top. This time, he remembered to use a spoon. Ax had also suggested that he eat slower, too. So Maul forced himself not to wolf it all down. He watched the children chatter at another table and Rachel try to corral the dog. Ehn seemed to be lacking in intelligence if you asked Maul. He was a big beast, colored like a shepherd, and he bumbled into almost everything. Including Maul.

Ehn liked putting his heads in Maul's lap. He whined until the red sighed and submitted to rubbing his ears. Ehn seemed to like that and relaxed under the table. Maul broke off a corner of the sweet roll and fed it to the grateful dog. If Rachel noticed, she said nothing about it. Maul allowed himself a small smile as he finished his breakfast. He could do this. He could watch his brothers and mimic their actions. It might feel odd, to ask for the food instead of grabbing it, but he didn't want to get slapped again. And there was plenty to go around.

Still. Old habits died hard. A part of Maul was still stuck on Lotho Minor, wondering where his next meal was coming from.

Concord Dawn was a big city. Ax had things to do, so he left pretty early on. Rachel had her own job to do (she managed a salvage operation) and the children needed to go to school. That confused Maul. He had certainly never gone to school. The droids back at Mustafar had taught him until his Master deemed he had learned enough. Clearly, some of that education had been lacking.

"Can I see a map?" Maul tried to look nonthreatening. Last night had been a disaster.

Rachel turned from putting the lead on Ehn's neck. "A map? Sure. Why not? Just don't get lost." She wrestled with the big beast and managed to point to a datapad sitting on a glass shelf. "There's a couple of holomaps in there. The kids use them for school."

"Are they accurate?" Maul tried to keep calm, but he already had the beginnings of a plan in mind. Kenobi was on this same planet. A quick holosearch had revealed that he, his new brat Anakin (the one who was supposed to be Maul's replacement. Sidious had said as much. Maul was to be the young Sith's chief Acolyte and serve his every whim), and the Duchess Satine were holed up in the palace. Apparently, there had been a little stunt with Jango Fett and the Jedi. Maul dismissed that out of boredom. Fett was lucky to be allowed back on Mandalore after he'd allowed himself to be cloned.

"As accurate as any map of Concord Dawn can be," Rachel muttered. "I swear, there's a new high rise going up every week!"

Maul nodded. He'd lived on Coruscant. Albeit he had been quartered in an abandoned zoo with only the feral cats to keep him company, but he had seen a few of the bases of the massive skyscrapers. He'd never been up in one, though. Sidious had said that his tattoos and horns would simply be too frightening for those who didn't understand the Sith. Maul had believed him then. Those bases had been huge, and the skyscrapers stretched several kilometers into the air. A little bit of a smile ghosted his lips as he remembered the one time he'd teamed up with a Jedi. Adi Gallia and he had been tracking the same criminal. It only made sense, at the time, for the two of them to pool their forces. Adi killed the slaver and Maul brought Sidious the man's head.

"Thank you." He turned around and activated the holoprojector. If Rachel was watching him, she said nothing. Maul frowned as he manipulated the projector. The palace was in the middle of the city, several miles from where Ax's row house was. Maul cursed under his breath. It was far too much for him to walk, though. He supposed that he had said the right thing by thanking her. It took an extra level of awareness to avoid irritating Rachel. Maul manipulated the map and called up the train schedule. If Ax could navigate it, **he** could.

"Brother!" Savage walked up behind him and clapped the Zabrak on the back. "Ax gave us directions for something called a 'wave pool'. I only ask this--can you swim?"

"No, and I don't plan on learning," Maul growled. He shivered as he remembered the frozen lake. "I was planning on finding the palace."

"Oh." Savage sighed. "I didn't think you liked looking at paintings and various old piles of crap that royalty accumulate over the centuries. You don't quite strike me as the type, Maul."

Maul gritted his teeth as he scribbled down the stops he'd need to switch over at. He had a comm and he had sixty credits in his back pocket. "I'm more nuanced than you think, Savage. You should know that by now." He closed off the holo and put it back where he found the thing. The last thing he needed to do was get Rachel irritated when he planned to go and kill Obi-Wan Kenobi. He would creating chaos once again.

"Still..." Savage trailed off, looking slightly crestfallen. "I was kind of hoping you would go with me and Feral. It would be fun."

"No." Maul glared at Savage as he grabbed his weapons. He stuffed that in a knapsack as he looked at his scrawled map. "I'm going to go to the palace. I'm not going swimming with you. Deal with it."

"Kriff..." Savage softly said. "I'm sorry if I ticked you off."

Maul said nothing as he walked away. He had two Jedi and a Duchess to kill.


	15. Tell Me It's Okay

It wasn't hard to find the stops for Concord Dawn's rail system, the Undertow. Whoever had thought of that name deserved to be slapped, if you asked Maul. He hated anything to do with water. Almost drowning did that to you. So he deiced to ignore the ferry boat on the Five Tails River and go to the palace by train and by foot. Never mind that the ferry boat would have gotten him there in half the time... Honestly, Maul didn't care. He just wanted to get to the palace and kill Kenobi. That man had highhandedly ruined everything Maul had ever worked for. Now, without his lightsaber, even the lowest Acolyte could kill him. Maul knew they despised him to much to simply be content with ending his life, though. He had angered them far too many times for them to be content with simply ending his life. No, they would first take their pleasure from him.

Sidious had already gotten their first, Maul hated to tell them. He had been servicing his Master since he could destroy his gag reflex. There wasn't a part of him that hadn't served Sidious at least once.

The Undertow was hot. Maul had picked a station at random and noted that it was the third one on his list of stops. He needed the Green Line next. Really, it was laid out so simply a child could figure it out. Maul hopped on the first train with the words "Green Line" on the electronic running boards. He settled back on the worn seats and considered his plans. He had no lightsaber. The older Jedi, Jinn, must have survived his attack. Maul had been woefully ill-prepared for what he was about to do. He had charged in blindly instead of trusting the Force. This time, that would be different. He would lie in wait until the right moment came.

"Next Station: Union Square. You are on a Green Line train via Five Tails Station and Highstreet."

Maul frowned. Neither of those stations had been on the list of stops he needed. That was when he got a good look at the basic map of the Undertow. Maul cursed softly. He was going _opposite_ of where he needed to go! Towards the space port, not the palace! Maul punched the plastic handrest in frustration. It did nothing other than creak under his fist. An older woman glared at him before returning to her knitting. Maul was tempted to say something sarcastic before he just sat down and tried to gather his thoughts. Well. It looked like he was in a little bit of a mess, wasn't he?

The red Zabrak picked up an abandoned sheet of flimsi. He soothed out the worn thing, looking over the news. It looked like the morning's newspaper. He glanced over it, noting the facts about the Clone Army almost being ready to be deployed. Maul swallowed the smirk. The Jedi didn't know what they were letting in, right under their noses. All a part of Sidious's grand plan to restore the Sith Empire. The clones would fight for the Jedi like the good little meat droids they were and then turn on them. Maul wasn't sure what Sidious planned to do with them afterwards.

A vague stirring of unease filtered into his gut. Maul squashed it and read over the latest ball game scores. He'd played bolo-ball on Osiris with the others, before Death Watch showed up. Maul had been rather good at it, too. It was the one place where he could let his Force skills show through. He'd been very good and that was probably how he got the attention of Daleen. He'd never forget her. Maul would never forget the way she looked at him, or the way she helped him up after he fell out of a pine tree. Hopefully, she'd have the sense to stay away from him. The Dark Side had no place for lovers.

There was the usual Jedi poodoo about the "Chosen One". Maul set the flimsi aside with disgust. He looked up and saw the older woman glaring at him. "What," he growled, "are you looking at?"

"Didn't your mother teach you to take care of other people's property?" the woman sighed.

Maul looked at the dent he'd left in the handrest. Whoops. "I don't have a mother," he spat. Maul glowered at her. The woman didn't flinch away. Instead, she sighed. "And don't think the other. I. Have. No. Family."

"I'm sorry for your loss," she murmured. True concern flashed in her eyes. Maul looked away in disgust. Life was so much more simple on Mustafar. There he only had to please his Master through combat and...other means. No go around trying not to offend others. Maybe there was a reason Maul had never been allowed in Sidious' apartment. He was far too crude and wild for such a refined place and would probably break something. His belly rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since that morning.

He got off at the next station and decided to walk around. After all, he was a Sith and Sith were tough. Maul pushed his way through the crowd, watching like a hawk. He didn't see anything of interest, minus a knife shop. Maul slipped inside there and placed his hands on the glass counter. He looked down, admiring the blades. A dark skinned woman was sharpening another blade and she ignored him. Maul was okay with that. The fewer people to encounter him, the fewer chances the Acolytes had to find him. He looked over at the knives, his eyes finally alighting on one that was made out of blue grained, Damascus steel with a carved bone handle. It was a fixed blade knife and had a sheath with Shilian bead work. Maul swallowed and touched it.

Maul made up his mind and looked over at the woman. "You want to give me this knife."

She nodded robotically, her amber eyes dull now. "I want to give you the knife."

He took it from her and strapped the thing to his leg. There. Now he had a weapon beyond the Force. It would last until he could find the crystals for his saberstaff. Maul got out of the shop quickly and started down the street. He'd gone about half a mile before chills wracked his spine. Maul turned around, a hand slipped to the hilt of his new weapon. He swore under his breath. Unless he was going mad, there was an Acolyte stalking him. Maul swallowed and darted into an abandomed building. He paused, waiting for the other male to come closer.

The red hid in the doorway, waiting for the Acolyte to come nearer. He was at the disadvantage here. He had no lightsaber and no backup. Maul had no real way to defeat the Acolyte, save break his neck.

"Maul..." the Acolyte stepped into the building, taunting the red with his sing-song voice. "Where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are. It's been too long since I got to play." The Acolyte activated his lightsaber, the red glow hissing out. Maul narrowed his golden eyes. "You know I can feel you. And now you know how we feel, to be abandoned by our Master." Maul slipped backwards, looking at the ceiling. "Come out, little Zabrak, and I'll kill you quickly. If not..."

"Baya," Maul muttered to himself. Darth Baya. _Now_ he knew who this Acolyte was. He dropped back as far as he could. Baya hadn't kill him when they sparred, but he had demanded other things from the red. Things Maul would have rather done with Ax or Daleen, not Baya. But Maul had lost and that was what losers faced in the world of the Sith. Maul growled low, looking down at the Acolyte's body. If he could just time it right...

Maul ignored the screaming in his ribs and jumped off the balcony. He drew the knife from its sheath in one smooth move and plunged it into Baya's back. The Acolyte snarled. He threw Maul aside with the Force, blood streaming from his wounds. Maul landed heavily. He picked himself up, gasping for breath. Baya snarled beneath his helm and drew his lightsaber in a wide arc. Maul grabbed it with the Force. The weapon felt odd in his hands, but he charged Baya anyways. Baya drew his spare and the blades met with this hiss of escaping ozone. Maul dropped back and slashed at Baya's side. Baya parried and forced Mail backwards.

A vicious slash sent Baya tumbling backwards. Maul picked him up in the Force and held him there. With a snarl, he stabbed Baya through the chest. The other man spasmed before he went limp. Maul screamed and flung the body aside. He was shaking now, drained of his energy. With a shaky hand, he summoned Baya's other lightsaber and doused it. He had his crystals now. Maul closed his eyes and tried to gather his strength. He'd need it to get home.

It was only when he looked down did Maul see the scarlet blood that stained his side. Baya must have stabbed him. Maul called to the Force to heal himself, but only found fuzzy darkness.


	16. Awaken

Maul awoke several hours later to a rapidly buzzing comm and a splitting pain i his side. It took him a few minutes to remember what had happened, but when he did, the Dark Side flooded him. Maul took a stagger step, looking down at the bloody mess Baya had left. Thank the gods that that man was dead. Maul kicked the body once for good measure before grabbing the comm. He looked at the number. Ax. He touched the button to accept the call and tried to look as calm as possible. Like he hadn't been trying to go kill two Jedi, a brat, and a Duchess. Nope. Not him. Maul was just an innocent little Zabrak who just happened to get jumped while trying to get his stuff together.

"Yeah?" Maul twisted around so the bloody wound wasn't **that** visible. "What is it, Ax?"

"Where the hell are you?" Ax sighed. "We've been looking for you all day! Maul! There is _Death Watch_ in the city! There have been attacks on train stations and the like. It's not safe for you, a non-local, to go roaming around the streets at night! And you can cut the tone with me, Zabrak. We've been worried about you all freaking **day**."

Oh. Well, that did explain a lot. Maul sighed as he tried to think of what he could say. Why was he getting this bad feeling about worrying all of them? And why would a Sith care so much about Death Watch? He was a _Sith_ , for Murphy's sake! He had just killed another Acolyte. Baya was said to be the strongest Acolyte Sidious had and Maul had literally stabbed him in the back. It was a strange thing. Maul had never worried about scaring Sidious. But one comm-call from Ax and he was wondering what he could do to make things right. It just didn't make any sense at all.

"I'm a little lost," Maul finally admitted. "Didn't Savage tell you I was going to find the palace?"

"Yes, but he said you'd be back soon," Ax growled. "Maul. You left at 0800 hours this morning. It's 1900 hours right now. Stay put and I'll try to find you, okay? But you can't just go charging off like that and act surprised when people get scared about you. You scared _all_ of us."

Maul wasn't sure what to say. What **did** you say after something like that? It was yet another thing Sidious had forgot to teach him. What did you say after you made several people worried about your safety? Maul had probably worried them. Ax, of all beings, knew Maul's ability to get in fights. And he wasn't in top form, as Feral liked to say. Maul was still weak from Lotho Minor and the pain in his body made it hard to stand.

"I'm not sure what to say," Maul finally admitted. "But...it hurts? I guess, knowing that I scared you? I was just..."

"Never taught," Ax sighed. "What you say here is that you're sorry and it will never happen again, got it? And then you try to make pretty damn sure it doesn't happen again. I swear, I'm going to find whoever messed you up and kill him."

"Don't do that!" Maul yelped. He tried for the stairs, surprised by the concern in his voice. When did he start caring about other people? He certainly had never been taught **that**! Or why did he care of Ax tried to kill Lord Sidious. Maul almost doubled over in pain as he looked down the street. Ax was right...it was almost completely dark. Maul swallowed as he tried to find his way. "He'll kill you."

"Maul, he has made it next to impossible for you to function out here," Ax snapped. "And you know it. Whatever you're trying to do right now, _don't_."

"I'm sorry." The words tasted foreign in his mouth. "It's too late." Maul snapped the comm shut and continued on his way. He could trust the Force to lead him home. He liked that place, liked it better than he'd ever liked Mustafar. Except for the food, but that was another point. Maul stuck to the shadows as he watched the world go by.  He was pretty sure he knew where he was going. Get to Ax's place and bed down for the night. He could try again tomorrow. Maul hated to say it, but Concord Dawn was scary at night. He didn't like this place.

"Someone like you shouldn't be out here."

Maul froze, a hand on the hilt of his dagger. But the voice wasn't talking to him, it was talking to a pair of ragged men with blasters. Maul crept forward, looking at the armor the group was wearing. They weren't Mandalorians like Rachel. It was...different. Much more narrow, more defined.

"Death Watch," Maul muttered. And then he struck.


	17. Death Watch

The stolen lightsabers sprang to life in Maul's hands as he prowled through the shadows. He couldn't understand most of what the Mandalorians were saying, but he was betting it wasn't very nice about the two clones. That didn't matter. Maul set his jaw as he paced, looking at them. Both clones were bleeding. Both men were holding themselves like they had been injured in more than one place. But Maul's eyes were on the prize: the leader of that gang and the way he held himself. The Zabrak flattened himself out and pressed into the bricks. One of the clones was standing over the other, his cold eyes locked with the helms.

"Yeah," he snapped. "We don't really like the Jedi, either. Now just get your _shebs_ outta here! We aren't looking for trouble!"

"But you found it." One of the Nite Owls kicked the clone in the stomach. He fell with a grunt, the white hot darkness in his eyes making Maul smile. But it was the other one...the other one who was looking so shy and vulnerable...that made Maul want him. He growled, surprised by the sudden turn of possessiveness. The Zabrak stalked forward. The shy clone picked himself up, fear in his hazel eyes. Maul bared his teeth and waited. "That one will do just fine."

"Leave my _vod'ika_ alone!" The aggressive one charged the leader. A blaster whipped out, at the same time as Maul sliced one man in two. The Nite Owls (for indeed it was they, waiting to destabilize the Duchess' rule even more than it already was) scattered. The first clone took the opportunity to wrench a man's blaster from his hands and shoot him through the helm. Maul launched into action. He slashed one man across the face and dropped him. The other lightsaber was a blur of red in his hands as he deflected the bolts. He shoved two men into each other and skewered them with a single thrust. Both clones had gotten blasters and they were adding to the fray.

Maul hit one of them with the Force, sending him down just as a hail of blaster fire exploded right in that area. The other man cried out as a bolt buried itself in his thigh. Maul pushed him aside. _That_ was the one he wanted. **That** clone. Maul jumped over a dead body and separated a man's head from his shoulders. The others dropped back. One of the clones shot another (a head shot) and watched as the body dropped. Maul pressed them. His lightsabers shown like crimson beams and they hissed in the air. Both clones flanked him. Maul ignored where the wound in his side pulled and he focused on the remaining Nite Owls.

"That's no Jedi..." One of the Nite Owls backed up, fear in her voice. "It's a Sith! Run!"

The aggressive clone dropped her with a bolt to the back before darting aside from another. Judging from the markings, that clone had just killed someone's sister. Maul stabbed that one in the back and kicked the body aside. All three of them looked at the fleeing Nite Owls. The aggressive clone shot another two in the back before turning to Maul. Distrust and hatred shown in his eyes as he looked at the red Zabrak. The other one, the shy looking one, had a different approach. Maul touched him with the Force. He ached in places he thought he shouldn't be aching. Maybe he'd liked some of it, but he didn't for right now.

"Thank you," he whispered. The shy one put his hands on Maul's shoulders. Maul growled. The shy one edged away the lightsabers. He was a good head shorter than Maul and it was clear that he wanted protection. "You...saved us." He stood on his tiptoes and brushed a kiss against Maul's cheek. Maul jumped. He didn't push the clone off, because that little shit had decided to hug him.

The aggressive one rolled his eyes. "Bloody **hell**. Dogma, didn't we just run away from one of your failed relationships?"

"But he's nice!" Dogma protested. Maul gave Dogma a long look. Clearly, he had a screwed up definition of "nice". He'd just killed several members of Death Watch and scared the poodoo out of people, not to mention killed an Acolyte.

"You have a strange definition of that word." Maul pushed away from the clone, trying to gather his thoughts. What did he want? What he felt for Dogma was different that what he felt for Ax. It was closer to what he'd felt for Daleen. Maul, sadly for him, knew the basic mechanics of the act he desired. Not what to do with the emotions.

The aggressive clone made a strangled sound. "You have no idea."

"I'll require your name." Maul pushed Dogma away and doused the lightsabers.

The aggressive clone paused from rifling through the dead bodies. "Slick." He pulled out a pouch and opened it with his teeth. He threw it aside in disgust. "River pebbles! Why can't they just have all their credits on them?! It'd make my life easier!"

"I'm Maul." Maul watched him with one raised eyebrow. Dogma followed Slick and both men stripped the dead of their blasters and other valuables. He felt nothing against robbing from the dead. They didn't need it and these two needed it more.

"Heard about you," Slick mused. "Heard you've killed Jedi. I don't give a damn. I've done it and I'd do it again. They were gonna put Dogma down--don't tell me the Jedi are all wonderful little angels, they **aren't** \--so I might have contacted Asajj Ventress and let her kill a few of them." Slick snorted as he stood up. "Besides, you helped us out. We owe you one."

Maul blinked. "Is Dogma all right?"

"Yeah...just getting over whatever drugs they gave him," Slick shrugged. "He usually doesn't kiss random strangers like that."

Dogma looked up at Maul. "But I find him very handsome."

The Zabrak was suddenly very grateful that he couldn't flush. Because he was suddenly feeling very, very hot up there. But it was hard not to feel possessive as he looked at the smaller clone. **That** was the one he wanted. If he could swing it, he might get what he'd been wanting. He wasn't quite sure what it was, per say, but he knew it was something. Maul nodded for the two of them to follow as he started looking at his map. Hopefully, Ax was planning to leave soon. And if Ax could take his brothers, the Cathar could take these two. It was only fair.

"He's strange," Maul casually said. A little bit of him wanted to kiss Dogma again, but if the clone had been drugged... Maul would know better than anyone to get informed consent beforehand. He'd serviced his Master in all things and he knew what the other felt like. It hurt him. He didn't want to hurt Dogma like that if he could avoid it.

Slick snorted as they caught a train. "You have no idea."


	18. Home Again

Maul wasn't truly in the mood for some clone to be all pressed up with him. No matter how vulnerable Dogma looked, with his big doe eyes and the way he knew what to do and just make Maul **want** him. No...it didn't go much deeper than that, Maul thought. He'd given up all hope of having Ax. The Cathar already had someone else and wasn't looking at him. Daleen had hopefully taken a hint the day he shoved her away at Osiris Academy. He was dangerous. Maul was toxic, poisoned. So then why did he want the man pressed into his side?

"Captain Ni will be leaving this world within a week," Maul casually said. He thought back to the manifest he'd "borrowed". Ax hadn't even realized it was gone. It still made him feel bad, though, to be stealing from the man who had given him so much. Ax was truly a nice person. He hadn't left Maul to die after he'd tried to steal from him and Maul couldn't figure out why for the life of him. It was so damn confusing! Everywhere he looked, people were turning the things Sidious had said on their heads. Was this world real? Or was he laying dead on Lotho Minor?

"Don't know, don't care," Slick muttered. He gave Maul a flat look. "If you hurt my brother, I will kill you."

"I'm not going to hurt him," Maul assured him. He wondered where that came from. Was he going soft from this world? Was it making him lose everything his Master had tried to ingrain in his soul? Was he a bad Sith like Sidious said? He'd killed members of Death Watch and Death Watch was a part of Sidious's great plan to take over the galaxy. So were the clones. But the two clones beside him were people. They acted like Savage and Feral. Maul wondered what he'd missed from growing up all alone on Mustafar. He'd clearly missed having brothers like those two men.

Slick looked weary as they got off. "Yeah...he's pretty damn loyal, too, okay? He's let some people hurt him because he thought he was supposed to do it. So don't go aggravating his wounds, okay? I like my brother hale and hearty. I don't like having to drag him out of a cell because Krell wanted to put him down personally."

Maul could understand that. He wasn't going to argue with that logic. He'd seen what could happen first hand. Sidious seemed to think it was funny, the Jedi killing their own soldiers. Maul hadn't liked it. He'd never liked to kill just for the sake of killing. He stopped and looked at himself in the reflection from a glass window. A scared looking man with golden eyes, scarred red skin, black tattoos, and battered horns looked back. His black clothing hung off of his skinny frame and washed out his already dull hide. He looked like a man barely alive. He touched the reflection, sobered by what he'd seen.

"I would hate doing that for my brother," Maul finally said. He didn't want to admit it, but Feral had grown on him. Feral, not Savage. Savage was still a pain in the _sheb_ if you asked him. Maul didn't know what he was. Lotho Minor had changed him. He was smaller now, his body decorated in scars that hadn't been there before. He was covered in old wounds and new hurts. Was he not a person anymore? Had no one ever cared about him?

"It's hard," Slick finally said. They had moved down the street where Ax lived and the clone sat on a bench. Dogma sat beside him. Maul kept watch. He'd probably made Death Watch very angry by killing those members of them. Slick looked away and he took Dogma's hand. Maul dipped in the man's mind, trying to figure out what had happened. He didn't get much but a strong surge of _sorrow_ that almost made him fall down. He went a little deeper and saw that Slick had lost his squad to bad orders. He was young, but war had changed him. Slick had nightmares. He didn't like to be touched on certain places of his body. Too many scars existed on his mind for him to really know peace.

Maybe there were different kinds of strength, not just the kind Sidious had taught him.

"It's really hard," Slick repeated. "Cause everything I was taught...it was a lie. We're nothing more than slaves and the others didn't know it. They didn't _want_ to hear. I tried to tell them, but...we're programmed to kill traitors on sight. Me and Dogma were traitors to our brothers. So we had to shoot a few of them to escape. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Shoot my own brothers just to save one."

"What were you going to do after you came to Mandalore?" Maul pressed. "I'm sure you remember Death Watch."

"I honestly don't know," Slick sighed. He pushed Dogma off and Maul saw the smaller clone had passed out. "I swear, he's normally the brains of the outfit, but those sons of banthas gave him things to make him pliant. He's not thinking straight at the moment."

"He's sleeping off the drugs, you mean." Maul touched Dogma's back. The clone muttered and pressed into his hand. Maul raised one eyebrow. That was not what he was expecting.

"You're bleeding." Slick helped Dogma stand up.

"I am." Maul checked the wound. It had sealed up a little, but the injury was also starting to pull as he walked. Maul gritted his teeth. A true Sith did not show pain. And Maul wanted to prove that he was a true Sith. He took Dogma's other arm and pretty much dragged the man to Rachel's couch. As much as he wanted to just drop the man, he knew he couldn't. Maul knew next to nothing of his own nature and it was showing. As much as he wanted to do it, he knew he had to be careful. Dogma seemed submissive and gentle, just the thing a Nightbrother wanted in a mate. That was probably a species memory, not something that was likely to happen.

Maul snarled. He hated these newfound things called "emotions" and wished that he could just be rid of them.


	19. Sorting Things Out

Dogma cried out in the middle of the night. It woke Maul up, mostly because he'd crashed on the chair beside the sleeping clone. Something made him want the clone trooper. He wasn't sure what, but it was the same thing he'd felt about Daleen. That same rush of protective instinct coupled with something...else. A sort of fire that made Maul want to growl and _claim_. He'd wanted to do that with Daleen. And he would have--if Sidious hadn't sent Death Watch in to destroy the Academy. Maul didn't know why. He'd never asked. Maul had never been brave enough, nor had he wanted to slip about the girl he'd saved.

Maul gathered Dogma in his arms. The clone cried out again, his eyes screwed up. Things whispered in his mind, telling him of what Ax had done for him. Maul didn't remember much of it. He blocked out most of his childhood. So much of it had been filled with pain and anguish. He tried to not think about it. If that was what Dogma needed, then Maul was bound to give it to him. The Zabrak snorted as he held the shivering clone. It looked like shadowing Savage and the others had paid off. He'd learned about such things from his brothers and the cat man called Ax. The cat man with soft paws and gentle touches and a rough accent. The one who had been the first to truly...do what? Take care of him? Maul wasn't sure what it was.

"Maul?" the clone twisted around, blinking his dark eyes. "Where...where am I?"

"Ax's house." Maul settled down. The clone snuggled into him, his eyes closed. The Zabrak growled and rolled his eyes. Why was he doing this? Why were his instincts taking control? Why not his mind?! Why not his mind? Why not the part of him that was trained to be calm and cold?

"Good." Dogma sighed. "My head hurts..." He blinked his wide eyes, hand brushing the tattooed part of his face. Maul blinked at him. He saw nothing wrong with the man's markings. It was a Nightbrother thing. And...maybe he was more Nightbrother than he was a Sith. Maul wasn't sure what he was going to do. If Sidious saw him now, the punishment would make him scream for weeks. The last time he'd been punished, he'd been locked in a room in a cage. The room had been brightly lit and animals scrabbled around him. He hadn't been allowed to sleep, eat, or drink. Not until the last animal died. Sidious had dragged him out of the cage and forced him to fight a droid. Half of his bones had been broken in seconds.

He'd been left in the same pile the droid left him until he could drag himself to Sidious and beg forgiveness.

"I got stabbed," Maul rumbled. He shuddered as he remembered his time in the cage. Even now, he sometimes saw bright flashes and smelled the pain and fear of the animals. He reached down and stroked a battered part of his femur. "Pain is only weakness leaving the body."

"Please don't say that," Dogma whispered. One hand found his and the clone glanced at him with scared eyes. "That's...that's what Krell said before he beat us."

Maul swallowed. "That's what I was taught." He closed his eyes as the flashback threatened to come. "It's all I was allowed to say. That, and thank you for using me. It's what made me stronger. That's why I survived Lotho Minor."

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Maul glared at Dogma. "You did nothing!"

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that," Dogma replied. "Pity isn't weakness, Maul." He moved his hands over the battered spots in his ribs. Maul winced when he touched the gouges in the other man's ribs. "I was shot there." He seemed to be thinking, his gaze distant. Maul waited for him to speak. "The drugs they gave me...it's nothing worse than Krell did."

"You still shouldn't be sorry for my misbehavior," Maul growled. "I did wrong. I was punished for it. It's how the galaxy works." He stiffened a little, as Dogma's hand had found one of the deep gashes his Master's training had left on his body. He didn't remember why he'd gotten, but Maul knew he deserved the scars. He'd done wrong or he'd been weak. He deserved the wounds as a way to make himself stronger so he could better serve the Sith cause. But now? What was he? Was he a Sith? Or was he something weak.

"Whoever did that to you needs to be arrested!" Dogma snapped. He stood up, fire blazing in his dark eyes. "Maul...you have rights. I _don't_. So Krell or Tarkin can get away with beating the hell out of us. But that doesn't mean--"

"I am a Sith!" Maul snarled. He shoved Dogma aside, the rage making his body taunt and powerful. "Pain makes me stronger!"

"Is that what you think?!" Dogma hissed. "Because if that's the truth, I'd be strong enough to rip Krell's head off! All the times he tortured me, all the times he tried to leave in a bloody heap... If that isn't pain, I don't know what is! What I'm trying to say is that you didn't deserve that. I don't know what the hell you are, but you're not acting like any Sith I've met!" His gaze sobered and he looked at Maul. "You didn't push me against the wall after I kissed you."

"Your brother would have kill me," Maul flatly said. "And I failed my training."

"Maybe that's not a bad thing, you know?" Dogma settled back down, cursing his headache. "You still have your humanity. You're still a...decent guy, I think. You could be a good guy if you tried. You didn't let them kill us."

"No one deserves to be killed by failed Sith Acolytes," Maul flatly said. He looked at Dogma and shrugged. "What? You thought that they were a true, non-Sith people's liberation army? They aren't. The Nite Owls are failed Acolytes with a sadistic streak. I should know."

"Hell..." Dogma muttered. He pulled the blanket over his knees and settled against Maul's side. The Sith grumbled, but didn't move. He rolled his eyes. Dogma was a tactile person, much like Maul was. Maybe they had both been starved for touch. He looked over at the clone before shifting so Dogma was more comfortable. Why was he doing this? Why was he trying to help the clone, rather than taking what wanted and going? Why hadn't he killed Ax and the others? Was he truly _that_ corrupted by the pleasures of this world? "I...I thought they were just a bunch of irritated Mandos..."

Maul sighed and pulled the blanket over his knees. Dogma grabbed it back and pressed into his body. "What are you doing?"

"Things a clone does," Dogma muttered. "I'm cold, you're warm, and you're a blanket hog. Plus I don't want another nightmare." He rolled over, looking at Maul with hooded eyes. "And I'm calling bantha poodoo on what your Master told you. Sure, pain resistance is a good thing, but if you're hurt, you're not functioning at the top of your game. It's not good for you."

He narrowed his golden eyes. "I don't know what you're playing at, clone."

Dogma grumbled under his breath. "Just go to sleep. I'm pretty sure we'll both feel better in the morning."

There was one part of Maul, though, that didn't want to quite go to sleep. He growled and decided to squash it for now. That, however, would involve getting up and moving the sleeping clone. Maul wondered why his body was choosing **now** to betray him.


	20. Heading Out

Maul had no idea what he was going to do with himself. he loved having Dogma sleeping up beside him...he loved it too much. He liked the clone's warm back pressed into his chest and the way Dogma's breathing soothed his own. He was exhausted. And, maybe, he was starting to question the things he'd been taught. His Master certainly had never taught him why his body reacted the way it did or why certain parts of him became hard when the clone pressed deeply into him. Dogma, for his part, was asleep. Maul sighed. He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he was back in that cage, smelling death and being blinded by the white hot lights.

Morning came too early. He picked himself up and made certain not to wake Dogma. The best he could do, to apologize for the two clones, was fix breakfast. He'd seen Rachel gather the supplies and could feed himself. However, he was betting that young humans didn't subsist on ration bars and blackened, crispy bits of meat grilled over a fire. No, Rachel usually had things like oatmeal and eggs. Maybe fried sausage. Maul had tried those and didn't care for the taste. Maul grabbed a box at random. See, he could be helpful if he felt like it... Maul closed his eyes and cut out that train of thought. He got out a pot that looked about right and measured out the contents that he would need.

No one would have fed him on Mustafar unless Maul had learned how. No droids, no one. Sidious had just given him ration bars because those were easy for the older Sith to acquire and then give him. Rations bars were more for humans, though, not young Zabraks. He'd gone through several stages late. And he hadn't even know what had happened--and still didn't. He did know that he was far larger than a human and, as Kilindi said, he "popped a large knot". It had _humiliated_ him, even if Maul hadn't understood what she was saying. Now, with this...discomfort...he was finding it hard to keep focused on making breakfast. Maul gritted his teeth and decided to meditate through it.

He had to control his boy, otherwise it would get him killed. His stupid urges were nothing to anyone besides him. Maul took a breath through his nose and tried to focus. Really, this wasn't the time for his stupid body to start trying to kill him with the urges. Something pattered down the stairs. Maul looked over his shoulder. Zash shyly waved at him before moving her hands in a three year old's version of Mando'a signing. Ax said that there was something wrong with her and she'd never learned to use her words. She used hands instead of her voice.

"What are you looking at?" Maul growled. He moved back, trying to avoid the child. Zash smiled at him and made the laughing sign with her hands. "I don't understand you. I'm sorry."

Zash frowned, but pulled up a chair and sat behind him. Maul groaned with Ehn padded into the kitchen and rested his main head on Zash's lap. The Zabrak tried to ignore the girl. He really did. But Zash kept on flicking her tail against the floor and making a clicking noise. Maul gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the girl. This wasn't his house. Maul had never truly had a home before and that showed. He'd glare at the child before remembering that Zash had no voice. She couldn't say anything. He felt...protective? of her. It was such a strange thing. The girl who couldn't talk and the Zabrak who didn't know how to feel.

He wasn't sure how long he stood in the kitchen or how long Zash watched him with hooded eyes. He did know that it was early and the others weren't awake yet. Slick got up about an hour after the others, followed by Arkiz, Tussat, Ax, Rachel, Savage, Dogma, and Feral.

"I heard about the Nite Owls." Rachel looked at him with something akin to admiration. "That was really brave. Not many would dare to injure Bo-Katan's brother like that."

Maul felt his lips curve upwards, but not to snarl. To...do something else? "It wasn't much," Maul shrugged. "I've fought worse. I've been injured worse."

"Still." Rachel flashed him a small smile. "And you pretty much just stuck it to the Jedi. Nice going."

"It was a pretty nasty fight," Slick muttered. He motioned for the caff maker and Ax nodded. Slick smiled gratefully and poured himself a mug. Maul, who didn't drink caff, watched with an amused expression. If anyone noticed his trousers, they didn't mention. "He musta killed a Sith or something, because he'd gotten himself two lightsabers."

"I killed an Acolyte earlier," Maul demurred. He shrugged. "It, too, was an easy fight. Baya was not expecting me to go and fight with him after I was abandoned. He thought that I would submit to his blades rather than do battle. I stabbed him in the back."

"Maul got stabbed, too," Slick said. He gestured to the wound on Maul's side. Feral groaned and rolled his eyes. Maul decided to ignore him. He wasn't bleeding out on the floor. He was up, walking around. He hadn't been tortured and left for dead. He'd been stabbed and there was nothing wrong with that. Maul had been stabbed many, many times. He'd been so badly injured before. This was hardly a scratch. "He fights like a demon."

"I am fine." Maul glared at Slick. Slick rolled his eyes. "I've been injured far worse before. I'm _fine_."

"That's what worries me," Rachel retorted. "Ax has told me about your little streak. You can't just go running around getting stabbed! You're strong, I get it. But you're going to get killed one day!"

Maul sighed and breathed out his nose. He decided to just sit down and deal with it. He could take the backlash from Rachel if it got him breakfast. Maul ignored her and pulled out the bag of seared bantha meat that the three Zabraks shared. Too much oatmeal made him sick. He could eat a little, and he did. But he also knew that their stay on Mandalore was almost over. They would soon be heading out to the galaxy and leaving Mandalore behind. Maul took a sobering breath as he looked at Slick. The clone sighed and took Maul by the hand.

"I can help you with that," Slick finally said. "You look rather uncomfortable."

Maul grimaced. "I'm a Sith. I can deal with my own urges."

Slick sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Fine. Do whatever you want, just don't be so damned obvious!"


	21. You Are Forgiven

Apparently, it was a lot of work to gather all the needed supplies for the _Switchblade_ to head out. Maul decided that he liked that. The ship needed a little more work done to her, but that was easy enough. She wanted a few more parts tuned up, her rotors polished, and her drives flushed. Again, nothing that hard or time consuming. Ax was also getting her brand new reactor rods, mostly because his were only twenty five percent viable. Some pilots used every last drop of reactions from the cores, but Ax said that it was better safe than sorry. He'd never been dumped and some pilots were. The _Switchblade_ wasn't a fuel ship and that made her a little more expensive to maintain.

Maul had a grocery list. Mostly ship parts and the bare needs of the frigate. They were replenishing her fluids and Maul was sent to go deal with it. He was with Dogma and that made him feel a little bit better. The clone, still shy, had a way of talking with him that calmed the Zabrak down. Maul took a breath and gathered the supplies he needed from one market stall. Dogma had wandered over to another and was trying to haggle the price of a shirt. Maul felt the ghost of a smile touch his lips. It was an odd feeling and he couldn't really remember the last time he had smiled.

"Young man."

Maul turned around, looking at an older human male with long brown hair. His blue eyes were warm with wisdom, but something rattled the Zabrak. He growled and dropped back. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The man gave him a long look. "I wanted to speak with you. Is that all right?"

He glanced back over at Dogma and tried to tell himself that no, he wasn't looking for an excuse to look at the clone's ass. Maul sighed and bundled up all of the things he'd grabbed. "I suppose, but make it quick. My ship is pulling out soon and I don't want to be left in port."

"You would have made a fine Jedi."

The red Zabrak yelped. Hiss hands were too full for him to grab a weapon and he couldn't yell for Dogma without creating more chaos. It was his damned conscious! Always making his life harder than it needed to be!Maul jumped back, trying to figure out how to neutralize the Jedi without taking out half the market in the process. He looked around wildly. Maul couldn't drop the things he'd bought without getting them stolen. And, since he'd used the _Switchblade_ 's account, Maul really didn't want to get it from Ax.

"You mean to kill me?" Maul hissed. He wished he had Dogma by his side so he could grab a weapon and destroy this Jedi fool. "I'm not the weakling you left to **die** on Lotho Minor! Surely your pathetic Order must have heard the screaming!"

"It was probably drowned out by the war," the Jedi dryly said. "And you did work a number on me. Another inch lower and you could have put a hole through my heart or severed my spinal cord. So, no, I'm not sorry that you had to learn a lesson the hard way."

Fire danced in Maul's golden eyes and he considered snapping the Jedi's fool neck. "I thought you were the _good guys_ , you son of a bantha!" He took a step forward, not bothering to mask his emotions. He couldn't kill his Master, but he could kill this Jedi. "Your Padawan damn near gutted me! So why shouldn't I cut you down where you stand?!"

"Because you'll get arrested?" The Jedi smiled. He seemed to know that he had Maul by the short hairs. "I heard about the incident with the Nite Owls. Perhaps you have the courage to do what the Order will not." He paused, as if trying to think. "Don't you know about Kamino? Obi-Wan, Anakin, and I decided to leave the Order after we helped Jango Fett and a half dead _child_ escape."

"What about when _I_ was a half dead child fleeing my Master?" Maul flatly said. He grimaced and he tried not to think about what had happened next. He blocked it if he could. Maul blocked many things for the sake of sanity. "When I followed your precious Padawan home? When I _begged_ to be let in? Ad you said that the Order didn't _take in strays_?! Yet you go all the way to Tatooine for a **slave boy**!"

"He is the Chosen One!"

"Bantha shit!" Maul hissed. "There is **no** Chosen One!" He growled and tried to think of what to say. "The Sith have made it up to send the Jedi on a wild bogwing chase. Revenge for the slaughter on Korribaan, I believe. And how many Sith'arii has your Order killed? When they came to you seeking shelter and acceptance? Yet you killed them where they stood--man, woman, child! The Jedi are responsible for the extinction of several Orders!"

"There is a difference between a child with extremely high midi-chlorian counts and an Order of dangerous maniacs who enchant things with the Force," the Jedi said. "There is also a difference between that boy and a young Sith who could have been lying to us."

Maul glared at him. "You _fool_."

"You were a Sith," the Jedi growled. "You **are** a Sith. I might forgive you for the battle on Naboo, but I will never let you corrupt Anakin Skywalker!"

"No, my Master will use a different means," Maul spat. Dogma was making motions as if he needed to kill the Jedi. Maul shook his head. He had this. "Tell Obi-Wan this. I have a long memory. I have skills he will never have and I've survived things that would destroy a lesser man. Tell Obi-Wan that his days are numbered and that number is not a great one."

With that, Maul disappeared into the crowd before the old Jedi could stop him.


	22. The Dark Lord

There had been an odd feeling of cold in his bones as they left Mandalore. Maul chalked it up to finally showing his head. Maybe his job wasn't to go dealing with the Chosen One anymore, but to just deal with his life as it was. Maul sighed and settled back down on his bunk. Though he'd never admit it to Feral, meditation helped. It helped soothe his nerves at times and that was the biggest issue. He was short tempered. Even Ax saw it. The Cathar still hadn't mentioned the deal at the marketplace, though. Maul felt no anger against Dogma for telling him.

He lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Nothing had came to him, beyond a vague vision of a man wearing a dark breather suit. Maul got the feeling that he knew that man from somewhere. Hadn't Baya's Sith name been Vader? Baya was dead, though. Maul had stabbed the man in the back several times. He bit his bottom lip and kept on thinking. Then again, it did take a lot to kill a Sith. Maul himself was proof of that. He'd survived damn near getting disemboweled. If he could survive that, then Baya could probably survive getting stabbed in the back six times. Maul groaned aloud as he thought. Why couldn't he have done the job _right_ by taking that son of a bantha's head off?

Well, it was too late for that now. They'd just have to deal with the repercussions as best they could. Maul still didn't feel right about it as he tried to mull things over. It was just feeling back and stinking like a Ramothi packfish. He wrinkled his nose as he thought about it. Yeah...that thing had smelled so bad Maul couldn't bring himself to eat it, no matter how hungry he'd been. He might have tried it on Lotho Minor, but it was bad enough that he couldn't stomach it on Ramoth IV. Maul might have _tried_ , but he couldn't force himself to gag it down.

Someone knocked on the door. Maul, being lazy, touched the Force. It sounded like Savage. Maul rolled over and grabbed a pillow.

"Go away!" Maul yelled at the door. "I'm not here! Nothing to see here, just move along like good little sheeple."

"Where did you get that?" Savage dryly asked. "That's not that Maul I know."

"Dogma." Maul didn't decide to elaborate more. Once he got to know you, Dogma was rather outgoing and easy to be around. He was a decent guy. Maybe not an angel, but certainly a decent man. He seemed to understand more about the galaxy that Maul did. It was a shame. The clone from Kamino knew more about the outside galaxy than the Sith from Mustafar did.

"Ah." Savage pushed open the door anyways. Maul yelped and hurled a pillow at the yellow's head. Savage caught it easily and tossed it back at him. Maul grumbled. This time, he grabbed it and sat on the pillow.

"What do you want?" Maul grumbled. He glared at Savage. Savage, to his credit, simply rolled his eyes and flopped down on the bed. Maul budged up for him. It was habit now. He'd gotten used to Dogma pressed up against him. Both men needed each other during the long nightmares that trapped them. Maul could wake up with Sidious skewered him with a lightsaber. Dogma never said what his nightmares were and Maul wasn't going to press him. Some secrets shouldn't be told.

"We need you on the bridge," Savage tightly said. He grabbed Maul by the arm and hoisted the smaller Zabrak up. "Up you go. Ax has ran into some problems with the troopers. Something about phasing out the Republic. The idiots on Coruscant want an Empire or something of the sort. Not like they're going to help Dathomir out, though."

Maul frowned. It felt like Sidious was moving very fast with his plans. Had Baya finally moved into his place as Maul's backup? Had the Jedi even realized that travesty of Tyranus' prophecy? "What happened?"

"Some bureaucrat has to get his cut of _everything_ ," Savage grumbled. "They think the _Switchblade_ has some sort of illegal mods."

"I've crawled in her guts," Maul flatly said. "There's nothing illegal about this frigate, minus the fact that she's got a damaged turbo wee haven't fixed yet. There's a reason who there's a red sticky note on Port-Three's yoke. That's the one that's broken. Touch that and the entire ship goes into one big ball of plasma." They came out on the bridge. Maul looked over his crew. Slick and Dogma were covered in grease. Dogma's short hair was spiked up with it and his cheeks were red. Feral was holding a data tablet. Ax looked like his fur had been dunked in train oil. From the smell of things, he had been. The red Zabrak wrinkled his nose. "Ax? You reek!"

"Blame Slick." Ax tapped one clawed hand on the dash board. "So, you have all of us, minus the cat. What the _hell_ do you want?"

A man wearing an olive drab uniform paced on the bridge. "I want to know who gave you permission to visit Lotho Minor, Cathar."

Ax rolled his eyes and pretended to think. "So. Les'see. I work for myself to help support my kids, my girlfriend, and the crew. Hmm.... Gee, it's hard to remember. Oh! That's right! _Me_."

"That's a class three no travel zone," the man growled. "If you didn't notice the alarms in your ship going off from the moment you hit atmosphere!"

" _Switchblade_ ," Ax called, "call up the logs for Third Moon through Fourth Moon, Year of the Wolf."

"Designation: Captain Ni. No alarm signals were detected at that time. Designation: Maul joined the crew and on Fourth Moon, Third Sun the _Switchblade_ traveled through hyperspace to Corellia. No alarm signals were detected. However, slight asteroid damage to Port-Three turbo laser was accumulated. It is recommended to fix that in dry dock. Do you wish for me to call a repair dock?"

"Nah, don't," Ax decided. He looked back at the man. "I'm my own man, you got that? I don't like for some moron like you to shit with me. So next time you decide to tell me a lie, think about that. You got it?"

The man looked at Ax like he was something under his boots. "I could have you all arrested and your ship impounded."

"I'm a scavenger," Ax shrugged. "I recycle. A ship breaker, if you must."

"You still broke the law." The man looked like he was trying not to scream. Maul smiled and told the man to 'go away' through the Force. The white armored men with him shifted on their feet. Maul wasn't really familiar with their armor, but he knew enough to know they were trouble. Something had happened. Someone other than Sidious had taken the reins. Maul was getting a bad feeling that Baya had decided to go full steam ahead with the plans Sidious had made. That shouldn't have bothered the Zabrak, he should have celebrated, but it did. It scared him. He didn't like it.

"Fine..." Ax drawled. "I won't go to Lotho Minor anymore and all the valuables there can just rot."

"Good." With that, the men exited the ship. Maul watched them go with worry in his golden eyes.


	23. A Little Bit of Chaos

Coruscant. The first time that Maul had ever seen it by air. He supposed that the large cloud of smoke billowing out of the city center probably shouldn't have been there. Maul swore under his breath. Had Sidious moved ahead so soon? Or had Baya finally killed the old bastard? It would make sense if the Acolyte had. He'd always hated Maul. He'd always wanted the Zabrak's head on a stick and didn't care who he had to kill to get it. He'd fought through the few friends Maul had among the Acolytes just to get close to him. Maul had never really had anyone growing up. Maybe that was why he grabbed on to Dogma and didn't want to let go. The clone certainly humored him. They touched far often than much did.

"You got the itch?" Ax dryly asked. He fished things out of the console. Maul noted it as saltwater taffy. He'd eat a piece just to make Dogma smile, but he didn't care for the taste himself. It was far too sweet and sticky. It sealed his jaws together at times! Dogma, of course, felt that it was funny and usually got him hot water to drink. That loosened the candy. Some. "You're holding his hand like a school girl."

Maul blinked. He looked at the plume of ashes spreading through the sky. If he focused on the Force, he could feel the screaming and hear the anguish. Something had happened. The fire was spreading. He touched the Force and slipped into a meditative state. It wasn't the clone army. Someone had found the chips. None of the clones had been terminated, that was good, but the chips had been removed. They couldn't be killed because of public out cry. Instead, droids had attacked the Jedi Temple and were slaughtering all those inside.

"I'm not a girl," Maul simply said. He staggered a bit as the voices called out to him. They were **screaming**. Children, elders, adults. All of them falling to the onslaught. Maul gripped the steel dividers and tried to think. He couldn't let the others see this. Amazingly, they were still letting traffic come in. His gut rolled as he recalled the plan Sidious had come up with. Get the clones to turn on the Jedi and call it Flame Night. Instead, Sidious was likely dead and Baya had taken over. Baya had no patience. He was going to kill as many people as it took to become the Emperor. Maul bit his bottom lip. The old Sith Empire was reforming. "And I never went to school. I'm sorry about that."

"You're so damn innocent," Ax sighed. "Do you even know how your body works?"

Maul frowned. He thought back to the hardness between his legs and the way he often awoke, _hard_ and _wanting_. He was pretty sure Dogma felt the same way. After all, the clone took cold showers and got up quickly. But it wasn't like Maul couldn't feel something pressed up against his ass as they slept. Both men changed who was the one held, depending on the nightmares. "I'm pretty sure I do."

"Maul. You're walking around with a boner." Ax gave Maul a long look. "I'm not sure if you guys knot or not. I'd ask your brothers. Savage especially."

"I've slept with people before," Maul argued.

"Who?" Ax shot back. "If you have experience, you don't have a lot."

"Kilindi Makaato," Maul retorted. He crossed his arms as he looked at the Cathar. "And I can use my mouth too, thank you very much. I'm not innocent, nor am I made of glass."

"Maul...how old were you?" Ax softly asked. "Because...I know her. She's not a good person and she told me she had a really young Zabrak who had a knot as skinny as the rest of him. Buddy, how old were you?"

The red Zabrak thought back. "I don't know my own age," he finally admitted. "Feral says I'm about twenty five. I think...I think I was fifteen? Maybe?" He paused, thinking about it. "And what's a knot?"

"Ask your brothers about that one," Ax finally said. Then he sat down and rubbed his forehead. Maul watched him. "Oh...oh, Maker. Ohhhh Maker. Les'see...you're twenty five now, she's about forty odd...I **really** don't want to think about how old she was when she forced you." He touched Maul's shoulder. The Zabrak drew back, growling softly. There were reasons he'd never let Baya touch him. Some instinct told him it would likely hurt. Maul wasn't crazy. He didn't like pain. "Maul...if I had known, I wouldn't have brought it up."

"It didn't hurt," Maul shrugged. "I've felt pain. I would have broken her neck if it did." He still didn't know what a _knot_ was and it was starting to worry him. What if it was something that made him dangerous? What if he hurt Dogma if he gave into his desires? There was yet another reason to walk around or take a freezing shower. He had denied himself for years. A little more wouldn't hurt.

"That doesn't make it right," Ax sighed. He started keying in the required information. Maul sat across from him, thinking. He needed to process these things over. What if he hurt Dogma? As much as he needed the man for his own stability, he didn't want to hurt the clone. Dogma had been injured to much already. He didn't need some stupid Zabrak adding to it. Maybe Sidious had been right. Maybe he was a dangerous beast who couldn't be trusted with things like a delicate clone. He looked away and tried to ignore the sharp pains in his eyes and the swelling in his throat.

He could hurt Dogma. He was too big, too strong. Sidious had always said that he was "hung like a horse". He knew the mechanics of the act he desired, he'd seen as much in prison, and had even gone on his knees for the Warden. All because one of his "friends", Zero, a Twi'lek male, had been injured and Maul needed to be a distraction. Zero had been born on Corg Hive Seven. The last Maul had seen of his friend, Zero had been running towards Ryloth. They had gone their separate ways. It was the best thing they could do.

Maul still stuck to Dogma as they hit Coruscant. He hoped he could keep it at the level they were on. As much as he cared for the shy little clone, he was still a Warrior. He'd fight to the death for Dogma. As much as he didn't want to think of it, he'd seen the way Dogma looked at him. As much as it hurt, Maul knew he had to keep Dogma safe.

That didn't stop the bed sharing or the way Maul's body protested from the icy showers.


	24. A Little Bit of Strife

The situation on the ground was complete chaos. Maul tried not to go through it, but it was hard not too. There were droids. So many droids. So much smoke and flame and chaos in the Old Jedi Quarter. So many people running and screaming. The taste of ash was heavy in the air and the stench of death clogged Maul's nose. He was amazed they were going through with this. Baya was quite mad, didn't they know? Maul touched the Force as he leaned against the cold masonry. He felt nothing but death, all around him. And then the spark of flame that came with Nilaani.

The Twi'lek Acolyte cornered him. "You're...you're dead! Baya told us so! He said that you died on Naboo like the coward you are!"

Maul shook his head. He wasn't where he needed to be.  He'd told the others that he was getting a bad feeling about this and then he struck out on his own. Maul took a steadying breath as he watched her. Nilaani shook her head. Maul took a deep breath as he thought of what to say. He needed to do something. He couldn't just let this go through his fingers without at least trying. He was in trouble, yes. But he needed to talk with Nilaani.

"Baya did this." Maul glared at her with cold amber eyes. The green skinned Twi'lek woman nodded. Maul bit his bottom lip as he tried to think. Okay. Okay. He needed to do this. He needed to try and get this done. "Baya killed Sidious, didn't he? When I died...when I failed to get Anakin...that's when he started this. That's because he thought that I should have been left to rot on Dathomir."

Nilaani pulled on her tunic. "You got it mostly right." She puled him deeper into the alley as a pack of guards came walking past. Maul shivered as he looked at them. They were droids...all of them. He wondered about the clones. What would they be used for? There were no Clone Wars, not anymore. That...that wasn't good. Maul tried to think. Nilaani had been more closely allied with him than Baya. Unlike Baya, Maul could read the lay of the land and try to figure things out rather than just charge straight ahead. Baya did that--and he got a lot of Acolytes killed. But Maul was a Sith and that wasn't good. "He's been wanting to do this for awhile. You going nuts just broke the camel's back. I heard you stabbed him."

"I did." Maul wasn't surprised about that. He touched Nilaani's hand. They had grown up together. She only had a small Force gift, not nearly enough to do what needed to be done with a man like Baya in charge. "You're wanting out? Or did I guess wrong?"

"Oh, you got it right." Nilaani tossed one of her lekku behind her head. The Twi'lek woman sighed. "Baya is a son of a bitch and he needs to die. Only, you didn't do that job right and now I'm stuck with an Acolyte hunting me. Because, you know, I might have rigged some of those droids to explode."

That sounded like Nilaani. Maul felt himself smiled as he looked at her. The Sith woman wasn't evil. She was just extremely pragmatic. All Sith were. Maul still was. And he was quite ruthless. The Zabrak Sith considered the idea. Nilaani wasn't all that powerful. She was pretty weak in the grand scheme of things. If Maul was looking for raw fire power, this wasn't going to go all that well. Nilaani was good at Force pushes and that was about all. Maul had worked out Force lightning on his own. She would be dead weight. That wasn't what he needed. He needed someone who could kill Baya for him.

Blaster fire echoed through the halls. Maul swore and ducked under a metal stand. Nilaani followed her. The Twi'lek woman moved like liquid grace. Maul decided to ignore the bundle on her back. It was a child and it was a Force null child. Maul ignored the girl and focused on the battle at hand. Droids were coming down the alley. Maul swore. He really should have stayed on the ship. Or at least not visited the Old Jedi Quarter. Maul swore under his breath and dropped back. Nilaani followed him and activated her lightsaber.

Maul's red blade flared to life. He wondered how Baya was doing without his lightsaber. He tried not to cough on the smokey, tainted air. He wondered how many Jedi were fleeing to the Far Rim and how many were fighting the droids. He wondered about the clones. Now that he was with Dogma... He had to wonder. But he couldn't right now. Not with the plasma sticks that swing towards their hiding place. Maul leapt out. He spun on his heels and carved a fiery streak down one of the droid's hide. The thing lumbered at him. Maul ducked aside. He lunged, stabbed, and leapt. The thing crumbled beneath him.

Nilaani threw a droid into a wall. Maul jumped beside her and skewered another through it's metal heart. The others were getting wiser now, aiming at them with blasters rather than the plasma sticks. Maul fell into an easy rhythm. He slashed at the bolts and danced aside. Nilaani followed him at a slower pace. Maul cursed under his breath. He danced aside another blast and cursed as it scored down his side. He had to do this. He had to kill them, had to get away.

He wasn't sure how long it took, only that he was smelling like blood and death. He grabbed Nilaani and started trotting back to the _Switchblade_. They had a new mission. Either Ax could like it or not. Maul  needed to kill Baya. It was part of him. He needed to kill the man who had destroyed him. Maul tried to get his thoughts together.

He had a Sith Lord to kill.


	25. That's How I Do My Deadly Work

Maul felt the Force thrumming through his veins as he loped along, Sadly, he knew **exactly** what Baya felt like through the Force. The Zabrak cursed under his breath. He could tell that Nilaani was fairly injured and in no shape to truly run out and start trashing droids, but that mattered not. He started running through the streets, lightsabers raised to stop the blaster bolts. This was not the time for him to be caring about some weak Acolyte behind him. The droids had invaded the Galatic City and he was using the chaos to get in and kill Baya.

This time, he'd do the job _right_.

The red Zabrak leaped over a shattered column and locked the twin blades together. His lightsabers flared out around him and severed a droid at the waist. He leapt aside, slashed again, and skewered another through the chest. They were coming faster now as he waded through the ruined courtyard to the palace. This was where the Senate had lived and now it was where Baya made his layer. The scent of smoke and the stench of death cloyed him as he pushed throughm but Maul ignored it. He paid no attention to Nilaani and instead started slashing his way through the robotic guards.

A powerful human charged him with a vibroblade. Maul slashed him down the face, toyed with him. The red Zabrak ducked backwards and whirled on his heels. He stabbed the man, not fatally, just enough to drive him forward. The human charged him. Maul threw him with the Force and smiled as his skull cracked against the wall. He shoved aside the doors to the palace and ducked inside. The place was calm and peaceful compared to the roar outside. Maul closed his eyes and touched the Force.

**_Baya._ **

He darted down a flight of stairs and came across the door. Maul ignored the blood stench inside and instead charged in. His senses didn't work that well underground. But instead of the dark Sith he'd been tracking, he only found a boy. A boy coated in blood and shivering as he looked at Maul. He knelt down, dropped the lightsaber over one restraint.

"Tell me where Baya is and I'll let you out of here," Maul flatly said.

The boy raised his shaky head. Large, hazel eyes met his and Maul cursed. It was a clone and he was currently mooning over this boy's older brother. He shook his head and crouched to the boy's height. He shrank back from the Zabrak, probably scared by the stench clinging to his robes. "He...he...he went to the tunnels. That's a-a-all I know! Please don't hurt me."

Maul slashed the chains off instead. "I said I would free you, not kill you. I might do many things, but I always keep my word."

"Who are you?" the boy took a shaky steps and Maul cursed. He could hardly walk! "I'm...I'm Crest."

"Darth Maul. C'mon!" He yanked the boy up and started running. Crest seemed very skinny under his hands and Maul swore under his breath. He's take Crest back to the _Switchblade_ and he'd be Slick's problem. Yes, that was a good idea. Maul smiled as he pulled the boy close to him. Crest was sobbing and his wide eyes seemed to large for his face. Maul picked the child up. He swore under his breath. At his age, Crest should have been enough to make his back hurt. But, instead, he was as light as a feather.

"You poor kid," Maul softly said. Even when he was training, except for tests and punishments, Maul had had food. It might not have been good food ir as much as he wanted, but the young Zabrak had been fed. If even a ration bar. Lotho Minor had been his first experience of starvation. There were very few things that made him madder than a man starving the one who depended in him for everything. Maul tried to help the kid run before it became apparent that it wasn't going to happen. If Baya truly had taken the tunnels, that meant that he feared Maul and wanted to get away.

_As well he should._

The Zabrak threw crest over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. The kid didn't protest the rough treatment. Instead, he was merely silent and huddled in the corner where he'd been dumped. Maul touched the Force again, looking for Nilaani. All he felt was the cold Void you got when a Force user died. He swore under his breath and looked at a bloody heap in the courtyard. All that was left was a bloody body and a broken lightsaber. Crest cried softly beside him, his face buried in the filthy clothing Maul wore.

"I need you to hush up," Maul growled. He flicked open his comm and looked at the damage. Nothing there. He'd told the others that he was getting a feeling through the Force and that made him do it. Hopefully, that was considered a valid excuse. As an afterthought, Maul looped his arm over Crest's shoulder like Dogma did with him. The child cried and threw his arms around Maul in a tight hug. The older Zabrak just held him, rubbing back the tangled dark hair. He lived with clones now and he was starting to feel for them.

If Zabraks could blush, Maul would have been blushing like crazy as he cuddled up to Dogma every night. Both men now took very cold showers in the morning. It took care of the... _problem_...quite nicely. Except when Maul tried touching himself and said problem left him a boneless heap in the shower floor. No, that had no been good.

"I'm scared," Crest whispered. "He...he bought me from Slash and Slash hurt me and cut me open and..."

"Kid," Maul growled, "My backup is dead in the courtyard. If you want us to get out of here alive, I need you to shut up. I came here to kill Baya and you were a happy accident." That did the trick. Yes, it was cruel, and yes, he'd pay later. But now they just had to watch until the roar died down and they could get to the ship. Maul didn't expect for it to last all that long. After all, this was a fairly liberal city, as all large cities were. The locals wouldn't be able to hold out long with the droids. He pinged Ax with no reply and settled with holding Crest until the darkness fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crest belongs to my good friend Silentx13


	26. In the Midddle of the Night

Maul wasn't sure how long he waited, just holding Crest and watching the battle raging outside. He thanked every god that he'd ever heard of that the droids must have been programmed not to hit the palace. Maul needed a sky hopper that seated too. He'd already warned Ax about the kid he'd found. Apparently, nothing made Ax angrier than someone torturing a child. Maul also tried to ignore the bloody form that had once been Nilaani as they hid in the tower. What with the droids going around...it wasn't safe for him to be out there by himself. Maul took a deep breath as Crest just held on to him.

The kid clung to him. It did seem like Crest was starting to sleep, though, and that was good. Maul had already shared a little bit of a protein bar, washed down with water. He'd made the kid eat little chunks, not wolf down the whole thing like he wanted too. Protein bars didn't taste all that good, but the kid was clearly starving. Maul also didn't want to think about why Baya had a little boy in the basement. The lurid images made him want to hurl. So he understood why Crest cried when he touched the boy's hips accidentally. The kid had every right to feel bad.

After a few hours, when most of everything had calmed down, boots came up the stairs to the clock tower. Maul cursed his choice of hiding places. He held Crest tighter to him when it became clear that he knew the man coming up the stairs. A hand over his mouth kept him from whimpering and Maul curved his talons _just so_ so the kid wouldn't bite him. Maul coiled himself like a Cyrene tiger and waited for the man to get in striking distance. This idiot didn't know it, but Maul was a deadly fighter. And, now, he had a reason to fight bundled up in his jacket.

"Crest..." the voice called. "Baya and I aren't very happy with you... Now, come out here and face us like a good boy and we won't hurt you... _much_. But if you keep on hiding from me like a little brat, I'll make you wish you were never born!"

Crest whimpered and pressed into Maul's body. Maul pushed him off, gently, and grabbed his lightsaber. He stood up, his eyes dark. The Sith leaned down, his body like a crouch as he crept forward. He knew from scanning Crest's mind that the man's name was Slash and he was the one who liked to do bad things to little boys. Baya, surprisingly, leaned towards the asexual side. Maul pushed those thoughts away was he crept towards the man. He looked like almost every other clone, but instead, he was holding a nasty blaster.

Maul held out his hands and grabbed Slash in a choke. "Be careful who you mess with. You never know what friends they have!"

"You...like his...tight little..."

The red squeezed down harder and almost threw Slash down three flights of stairs. "You'll stop of you're wise!" Instead of allowing him, though, Mal tossed Slash aside and pulled Crest to him. The little clone grabbed his hand as Maul started down the stairs. Maul soothed back his hair awkwardly, trying to figure out what to do. Yes, this one was going to Slick for a reason. The only clone Maul really knew was Dogma, not this traumatized child clinging to him. Maul took a deep breath as they started walking. It looked like darkness had fallen on the streets of Coruscant and Maul intended to find the _Switchblade_ before trouble found them.

That was probably easier said than done, though. Maul sighed and started walking. He pulled Crest along with him, mostly because he didn't want the boy to get lost or dragged back to the place where he'd been tortured. Maul sniffed the air around the kid and decided that the first order of business would be a bath. Crest needed it and Maul needed the relaxation of being alone.

It was very hard, being part of a crew like this, but Maul thought he could do it. He was nothing if not a survivor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slash belongs to Silent, as well. All credit for him goes to her


	27. Crescent Moon

Maul walked with Crest back to the _Switchblade_. It wasn't a good idea for them to be running around out at night, especially with the city in the uproar that it was. And Maul knew he had ruffled a few feathers when he stole Crest. By rights, the boy belonged to Baya and Slash. The poor kid was scared, though, and huddled into Maul like he knew the galaxy would destroy him if he left the older Zabrak's side. Maul didn't blame him. The galaxy was a cruel place at the best of times. It was downright vicious at the worst. He sighed as they walked. The kid was far too trusting. It would only serve to get him in trouble.

Crest shivered in the slightly cooler night air and turned his big hazel eyes to Maul. "Can you carry me?" The boy looked at his feet as if thinking that he had done something bad, in need of punishment. "I'm...I'm really tired."

There was also broken glass lying around and Maul had no desire for his charge getting his feet shredded. Maul had made a promise and he intended to keep it. Mal sighed and gathered the boy into his arms. Crest smiled happily and buried his face in Maul's neck. The Zabrak frowned. He could feel the boy's ribs clearly through the tattered, thin shirt he wore. Though it pain him to admit such a thing, Maul pitied the boy. He also felt a strange rush of protection as he carried the boy through the lean, mean streets of Coruscant's lower quarter.

It saddened Maul, but no one accosted them as they walked. Perhaps it was the dried blood on his robes or the way he carried the boy. Perhaps it was the twin red lightsabers attached to his belt. Though, Crest was getting heavy and Maul feared he could injure the boy if it came to a fight. He gritted his teeth as they covered the last few miles. He would have to explain himself to Ax, Doing such things as this wouldn't get him very far when he needed the approval of a certain drunken Cathar. Maul sighed and mentally berated himself. He was **not** supposed to care about such things, kriff dammit! 

Savage was waiting for him, swinging his legs off of the _Switchblade_ 's ramp. "Took you long enough to get back! Now why in the Seven Hells did you go charging off like that!"

"I wanted to kill Baya." Maul sat his barefoot charge down on the cool metal. Crest swallowed and grabbed Maul's shirt. "Also, these infernal instincts won't allow me to leave him. Would you care to explain them?"

The yellow Zabrak snorted. "You have no idea, do you?"

"No. And then would you care to explain what the phrase " _pop a knot_ " means in relation to my anatomy?" Maul sat beside Savage, looking at the slightly younger male with his cool, golden gaze.

Savage shifted a little. "It's..." He paused, trying to gather his thoughts, it looked like. "It's...what our bodies do when we mate. But only if we really enjoy it. I've never done it, mostly because I never wanted to have sex with Alanox or Talzin, but the others said it was the best thing they had ever felt. Like I said...I don't know."

Dammit. Maul had been hoping to get a better answer. Feral was about as celibate as a Jedi. There was really no one he could ask and his only attempt to look on the HoloNet had brought up lurid pictures. He had quickly closed the thing down and looked away. Yeah...that had not been what he needed. He needed information, because...well, he wasn't sure why. There was so much about his body he didn't know.

"And, about the kid...the Nightsisters dropped all the male babies off on us as soon as they were born." Savage smiled, and Maul thought that it didn't help. "We kinda had to learn how to take care of kids. It's an evolutionary thing now. If he looked little and cute, you can think the Nightsisters for making you take him."

"My name is Crest," his charge mumbled. Maul roped an arm over his shoulder and sat. Crest seemed to like that.

"Named for the Crescent Moon around Kamino?" Savage casually asked. Crest nodded. The yellow Zabrak nodded and shrugged. "Thought so. You guys name yourselves?"

"Yeah," Crest whispered.

Savage pulled Maul up. "Talk to Dogma, why don't you? I'm pretty sure he knows more about this than you do. You need to let him know."

The red Zabrak scowled. "I'm not made of glass! I don't need your help!"

Crest pulled on Maul's sleve. Maul heard himself growl and pulled the kid closer to him. Savage sighed and turned around. Maul bared his teeth like he was a wolf. But the yellow Zabrak didn't look at him as he walked away. Maul grimaced as he sat down. This was feeling very strange to him. He didn't know what was going on. He just wanted to understand what was going with his own body! He was frustrated, sexually and literally. And he feared, with his size, that he would injure his partner if it ever came to that. Kissing was okay. Kissing was very good, but he feared Dogma wanted more.

Not that he was brave enough to ask, that was...

Maul fed the kid chicken soup from a can. Crest seemed very hungry and wolfed it all down. Maul allowed the boy to eat as he pleased before sending him to the showers. He sighed and looked at his taloned hands. He already knew how to touch things with just the pads of his fingers. And he couldn't cut his nails too far back without getting to the nerves and the blood vessel in it. That _hurt_. And bled a lot. He didn't want to bleed if he could help it. He had bled far too much in his young life.

Dogma caught him around the shoulders. "Hey, you okay?" Concern shone in his hazel eyes. Maul sighed. He still wasn't comfortable with being touched. "You don't look that happy."

"I'm confused," Maul flatly said. "And I have no idea what the hell I want to do."

"Then why don't you find out?" Dogma asked as he pulled Maul in for a kiss.

They only stopped when Crest yelped and fled.


	28. Awkward Things

Maul slept as he always did, curled around Dogma. Dogma draped over him like a living blanket. The two men often slept like this, beyond awkward kisses and strange mornings filled with cold showers. Maul rested his head away from Dogma, as always. He feared his horns would gouge the other man's head as they slept. He knew that was a threat. He had horns, he was hung like a horse, and he had talons. No, he was not safe at all. Dogma deserved far better.

The clone stretched against him, bringing him into close contact with Maul's...problem. " _Damn_ , love, but you're hard. Is this the way you're always like?"

He froze. "Um...I don't know?"

Dogma laughed and brushed a kiss against his nose. "'M too sleepy right now. Just wanna sleep in a little bit." He snuggled into Maul and made the problem only that much worse. Maul groaned and arched backwards. Dogma smiled and did something with his hand that made Maul _gasp_. "You like that?"

He nodded, his mouth dry. "A little. I think. I don't know."

"Later." Dogma snuggled into him. His hazel eyes shown with love and kindness. Maul wondered what he had done to deserve this. He had certainly never done anything good enough to deserve that. Maul swallowed and held Dogma tighter. The clone groaned in protest and Maul let up. The Zabrak sighed and pulled him closer, though kept from squeezing Dogma again. Dogma seemed to like him. "When I'm feeling more up to it. Top or bottom?"

Maul blanked out. "I...I don't know. I've never done this before."

"That's okay," Dogma murmured. "And you don't have to do this if you don't want too. I'm fine with it staying where it is right now." Maul nodded and feel back to sleep with Dogma pressed in his arms. He didn't decide to wonder what had just happened. He still didn't understand it. He didn't deserve these things and he knew all to well that they could be ripped from him in a moment's notice. It was so hard for him, to not grab Dogma and hold him close.

A creature flung his way into the bed, sobbing. Maul jumped. The creature crawled into bed with him, crying and trying to grab his shirt. Maul didn't sleep in a shirt, though. He touch the Force and cursed softly. Crest. Maul grabbed the young clone and held him close. Crest was bawling and it wasn't like Maul could just make him stop. Dogma shuffled around in the bed, budging up for space. Maul took a shuddering breath as he held the kid.

"They...they were cutting me open," Crest whimpered. Maul swore as his fingers found the thick ridges of scar tissue under the boy's shirt. "It hurt...it hurt so bad..." He cried a little more and pretty much plastered himself to Maul's chest. Maul froze up. He held the young clone tightly and kicked Dogma in the shin. Dogma groaned and went back to sleep.

"I've got you now," Maul growled. He jerked his lower half so it was hidden by the blankets. He didn't need to scare Crest more than he already was.  "I won't let them hurt you again. They would have to go through me and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be able too. I'm strong like that."

"And thick headed," Dogma mumbled into the pillow. "Your kid okay?"

Maul growled at that. "He is not my child. I'm a Zabrak. You're a human male. I'm pretty damn sure we can't have children."

Dogma snorted at that. "Clearly...you have never been to Dathomir, have you?"

No, but that didn't mean anything. Maul sighed as he rested back in the bed. Crest took that as an opportunity to drape himself over Maul's body. The Zabrak sighed and looked down. Why did he have to do this? He was no Nightbrother. So why did he have these instincts? Why did he feel that these things were going to drown him? He just wanted to understand what was going on and why he awoke with an aching hardness between his legs.

This had only happened rarely on Mustafar. It was a regular occurrence here. 

Maul held Crest tightly and wondered how he was going to get through all of this.


	29. I Have You Now

Crest stuck with Maul. And, after seeing the boy's scars, Maul didn't blame him. He only wondered why the boy had chosen a **Sith** as his protector, not Slick. The older clone had been perfectly willing to take Crest in and love him, but Crest had only wanted Maul. And so maul took care of him. The boy was very nervous at being left and often clung to Maul whenever the Zabrak walked out of the room. Dogma thought it was funny.

A HoloNet search said it was a good idea to start looking for toys. Maul simply went to a store and came back with an armload of model sets and what looked like science projects. That was how Maul found himself on his belly, watching Crest play with a hastily put together droid. The thing was what looked to be a mechanized durft. It just crawled around and flashed blinking lights at you. Crest loved it. Maul thought the whole thing was stupid and kept quiet for Crest's sake.

Crest prodded the droid with a finger and giggled. "Look! It's crawling like a real durft!"

"Let's hope we don't find a droid cat," Maul muttered. Crest gave him a look before grinning as he made the droid go crawling around the chair. Feral yelped and lightly kicked Maul in the ribs. Maul grabbed his brother's foot and pulled. Feral fell on his butt and grabbed Maul in a friendly head lock. Maul grinned, and it felt weird, but he pushed Feral off. The little Nightbrother laughed and swatted Maul on the leg before getting up.

"I didn't know you tussled," Feral smirked. He crouched down and watched as Maul manipulated the durft. It took a nose dive off the couch and went hurtling towards the galley as Maul tried to figure out the controls. Followed by a strangled scream coming out of the galley.

"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" Dogma came running out of the galley, followed by the durft. Maul ducked down and started making the toy chase the yelping clone. "Argh!" Maul might have ran it up his leg on purpose. Crest was currently trying to contain the laughter, smiling like the little loon he was. "Maul! This isn't funny! I _hate_ durfts!"

Crest started giggling. "It's just a toy! Maul is the awesomest big brother **ever**!"

"You mean the most irresponsible?" Feral dryly asked as he read his magazine.

Maul kicked his brother and sent the durft on a mission to go follow Ax. Followed by the durft going pelting through the ship, because Prissy started chasing the toy. Maul sent the droid under a chair. Prissy ran headlong into the chair. She then crouched down and started batting at the toy. From under the chair. Maul tried to work the droid out from under the chair, but the cat got in the way. She started growling and hissing.

Crest got a laser pointer. "Prissy! C'mhere, girl!" The cat took off after the laser pointer and Maul rescued the durft. That was followed by him opening up the package of things called "legos". He looked at the instructions and swore under his breath. "Good kitty! Leave my toys along!"

Dogma coughed and tapped Maul's ass with his boot. "Do you mind? You and toys are dangerous!"

"I never had toys," Maul shrugged. He went back to tinkering with the "Legos". They made no sense and the pictures were harder to follow than the written instructions. "Unless you count lightsabers and killer droids. But I don't."

"Cool!" Crest picked up the bag of Legos. "Where'd you get this?"

"From the same place where I got the droid," Maul replied. He went back to tinkering with Crest. The boy seemed to enjoy this, messing around with him and the toys. Crest hadn't ever had those toys and neither had Maul. It was a strange thing, he thought, to have these toys and to have friends.

"Crazy Zabrak," Dogma smiled. He leaned down and watched as Maul messed with the toys. "You're like a child."

"I'm just messing with Crest," Maul protested. He looked up and dragged Dogma down in a kiss. The clone kissed him back, drawing Maul into a hug and pressing him close. Feral coughed and looked away. 

"Okay, you two! Take it to the bedroom!" Feral announced. "Leave Crest out of this!"

"They're kissing!" Crest shrieked. 

Maul looked up. "Yell it louder? They missed you on Tatooine!"

Dogma laughed and sat beside him as the two messed with the Legos. Crest seemed to understand the pictures better than Maul and quickly put together a model of a star fighter. The young clone was intent on playing with the model as Maul worked on another. They seemed to enjoy this time together. Maul messed with the Legos and finally got bored with it. Crest seemed to sense he was about to get up and grabbed Maul around the chest. Maul sighed and carried the boy with him. He couldn't win, could he?

How was one supposed to be a terrifying Sith with a child pressed into his neck? Maul sighed and tried not to roll his eyes.  Crest didn't need to see that. As much as Maul was growing irritated with this new life, he needed to take care of Crest. The boy trusted him. Dogma trusted him.

Maul just hoped he could be worthy of that trust.


	30. The Jedi

Coruscant wasn't safe for right now. Ax seemed to understand and that gave Maul some measure of peace. He was afraid when the Jedi came around them. As much as he was irritated with Slick, he understood that the Jedi would torture the two clones. That turned Maul's stomach. A Sith only tortured when he needed too. The men the Jedi employed to break their clones did what they pleased when they pleased. The clones never had a chance to get back at them.

So it was back to Mandalore and Concord Dawn. Maul could get used to that city. As much as he didn't like it, Maul would have to get used to being in the same city as Obi-Wan Kenobi. As much as he hated it, it wasn't safe right now. Baya was trying to cement his leadership. Maul wasn't stupid. He knew what that often entailed. The Sith was going to start killing people if he wasn't left alone. Maul wasn't going to try and edge in on Baya's territory. He didn't want to die. He was no fool. Maul would take his revenge later.

He rested on the park bench, idly watching Crest play. The boy loved chasing pigeons. Maul hated to tell him that he'd never catch them. Not unless he had the Force. And Maul was pretty sure that Crest didn't have the Force. According to Slick, clones spawned with that power were put down the moment they got spat out. That made Maul pretty mad. After all, those clones had done nothing wrong. Dogma had really changed him, he thought. He had fallen in love and now he was getting soft? That wasn't a very good thing.

"Maul!" Crest came tearing up the grassy path, terror in his grey eyes. "Maul! There's a Jedi and he's gonna take me to hell!"

"What?" Maul didn't have time to think before a too small body grabbed him and buried his face in the crook of Maul's neck. He awkwardly held the boy, trying to figure out what was going on. "Crest! What happened?"

"There's a Jedi..." Crest started shaking and he grabbed Maul's robe so much that his knuckles turned white. Maul swore under his breath. "He's...he's gonna take me back to Baya and they're gonna cut me open and I'm going to hell!"

Maul picked the boy up, thoroughly confused. "I think you just saw something," he slowly said. "There isn't a Jedi around here. I would have killed him rather than let him get his dirty paws on you."

"Dirty paws?" a voice dryly asked.

Maul jumped and swore. "Kenobi!"

The Jedi himself strolled up, steel in his blue eyes. Maul cursed. He couldn't exactly grab a lightsaber with his arms full of child. Not without dropping Crest and hurting the poor boy. "Cease whatever enchantment you have on him!"

"Huh?" Maul really wasn't thinking on all sixes. He was trying to keep Crest from completely flaking out on him. The poor boy had been tortured, yes, but he was also scared. He hadn't been treated well. Maul understood where the boy was coming from. He had been hurt, too. "No one's used the Force on Crest. Other than Baya, mostly to stop him from screaming."

"You're a liar," Kenobi snapped. "Let the boy go!"

"Don't take me to hell!" Crest screamed. If he pressed himself any harder to Maul, they would have become two. "Please! Please don't take me to hell!"

"The only one going to hell is that Sth," Kenobi smoothly said. "Hand over the boy. I'll take him home."

"No!" Crest screamed and balled up Maul's loose shirt. "I don't wanna go!"

Maul glared at Kenobi. "Unless you have a crowbar... I'm not making him. Go screw yourself!"

"Give me the boy," Kenobi sighed. "I really don't want to fight you, but if you're not going to give me a choice, I will. I'll kill you and not think twice about it. I'm not even sure how you survived Naboo!"

He smiled thinly. "I'm too stubborn to die, Kenobi."

"We'll see about that with my lightsaber through your gut," Kenobi growled. "Last chance. Give me the boy and I'll let you live. I'm not sure who told him the Jedi would drag him to hell, but he got the facts wrong. It's a Sith who drags you to hell. Just give me the boy."

"He doesn't want to go." Maul wasn't sure what to do. Either he got in a fight and killed Kenobi or he lost Crest. "Can't you see that! He doesn't want to go!"

Kenobi lit his blue lightsaber and charged.


	31. Warriors

Crest was going to get himself killed. Maul didn't stop to think before he shoved Crest off and lit one of his lightsabers. Obi-Wan dropped back, looking at him. Maul activated the second one and called to the Force. If it came to it, he would kill the Jedi. That was how this galaxy worked. You pissed with the Sith and sometimes you got killed. Maul lunged forwards. The blue blade slashed beside him. Maul ducked and parried it. The Force pounded him in the gut, making Maul fall to his knees. Maul jumped around as fast as he could.

He grabbed the Force and hurled it at Kenobi's head. The Jedi grunted as he staggered back. Maul slashed him across the face. He couldn't pay attention to Crest or he'd get killed. He lunged again, darting beside Kenobi. The Jedi forced the lightsaber at his head. Maul moved like a snake and lightly scored him on the side. Kenobi grunted and fell back. Maul ran at him, and threw him with the Force. Kenobi landed on his feet. The two men circled. Maul closed his eyes and drank deep.

When he opened them, his eyes shone gold.

Kenobi pushed him with the Force. Maul staggered a little, but recovered. He lunged at Kenobi again and pounded him with the Force. Both men sparred back and forth, their blades a whir of red and blue. Maul slashed at him. The Jedi fell back and cursed under his breath. Maul pressed him with the Force. Kenobi came at him like a bull rancor. Maul hurled him with the Force. They both parried each other's blows and Maul landed one on his shoulder.

The Jedi grunted. "You've gotten better!"

"Pity." Maul darted aside and almost ran him threw. "I can't really say the same about you!" He forced Kenobi back and made a quick choice. "Crest! Go get Savage!"

The boy ran. Maul didn't pay him any more attention. He was locked in battle and trying to fight for his life. The two men lunged at each other and came like two bull rancors. Kenobi threw Maul aside. He rolled and bounded up. He'd only called the lightning once. He doubted he could do it again. With a scream, Maul tossed Kenobi into a tree. A rock hit him in the side. Maul fell to his knees and coughed. He forced himself to get up, knowing what the Jedi would do if he stayed down. The two men looked at each other, an odd light in Kenobi's eyes.

"You'll never corrupt him!" Kenobi snapped. "And Qui-Gon told me what you said. It'll take more than some Sith scum to kill me!"

"I'm not corrupting Crest!" Maul farted aside from a strike and almost landed a blow that would have killed him. "You're the fool here! Still clinging to a pile of _bantha shit_ thought up by a drunken Sith! Are you looking for double ringed moons, too?"

Kenobi almost ran him through. Maul darted aside and slashed him. "I know this! You're a Sith and you tried to kill me!"

"I did what my Master said." Maul darted again and pressed Kenobi hard. The Jedi took a few steps back and both me rushed at each other. Maul felt the Force singing through his veins and it was like he was dancing. He released the breath he had been holding and danced to the tune Kenobi was setting. The two men parried another set of blows and they jumped at each other. Maul scored Kenobi across the face. "I'm sure you're such a Saint that you're fighting an innocent man!"

"No Sith is innocent!" Kenobi snapped. They danced aside the volley of blows. Maul knew what he was doing. They rushed at each other and Maul slashed Kenobi. The Jedi staggered backwards, looking at the blood. "Why don't you do the easy thing and just let the boy go?!"

"Because I saved him!" Maul pressed Kenobi down and dropped his lightsaber at the Jedi's throat. "You never did like the clones. But I **saved** Crest. I never took him!" He smiled crookedly at the Jedi. "I might die tomorrow. I might die a thousand years from now. But I've learned this from Lotho Minor...have no fear and don't look back, the afterlife awaits." And then he lunged. The Jedi bounded up and slashed him. Maul just smiled and grabbed Kenobi with the Force. The Jedi broke his hold and hurled him back.

A cat screamed like a feral tom getting his face clawed off. Maul whooped and lunged. Kenobi turned around, just in time to get his face clawed by a pawful of claws. Ax screamed again and slashed at him. Maul pressed him with the lightsaber. Kenobi looked at him like they were all mad. Maul just offered him a smile and gave him Dogma's favorite gesture. The one consisting of a raised middle finger.

He had no idea what it meant, but it felt really good.


	32. Home

Kenobi didn't last long after Ax started trying to tear up his face. The Jedi was smart, Maul would give him that. He understood what the Jedi wanted right now and that was just to get out of this without getting killed. Because, well, that probably made things a little hard when you were dealing with the "Chosen One". Maul wondered why they even still believed in that pile of bantha poodoo. After all, it was from the Sith. And weren't all the Sith evil?

"What happened?" Ax seemed on high alert as the two parties started for home. Maul tried not to hold on to Crest too tightly. But it seemed like the boy was intent on becoming a part of him. He was clinging to Maul so much that the Zabrak sighed and carried him back to the _Switchblade_. "I mean it, Maul! What is it with you and getting into stupid-ass fights?! With a _Jedi_ , no less!"

"I'm a Sith." Maul adjusted his grip on Crest and transferred the boy to the other hip. The child sighed and placed his face deeper into Maul's neck. He ignored the boy for now. "We get in fights with Jedi. It's the way the galaxy works. Either he kills me one day or I'll kill him. It's what Sith do. We aren't exactly nice people, Ax." Though it was hard to argue that point with a child clung around his neck. Crest seemed like he didn't want to let go. 

"That's no excuse," Ax snapped. He headed towards the townhouse where he lived. Everyone else was staying on the frigate. Maul was okay with that. He could understand the need for some space. After all, he had been the one to start the whole thing. If not for him, it would still just be Ax. He wondered if the Cathar ever regretted his choice to take all of them on. Maul wasn't sure about that right now. He liked having all of them around him. He wondered how he had done it before, being the loner.

"Fine." Maul carried Crest back to the ship before settling on the couch. He sighed as the boy snuggled with him. Crest seemed to think that he was the best thing ever. Maul wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or a good thing. He still wasn't used to affection just for the sake of affection. "You wouldn't love me if you knew half the things I've done, Crest."

"But you're my brother," Crest mumbled. Big grey eyes looked at him. Maul bit his bottom lip and looked away. Before, he had been taught to use people like Crest as distractions. Before, he would have just walked away. Before, he would have slashed Dogma across the face for taking care of him. Maul had found that he liked the kisses...and the way that Dogma could make im whine with just the clone's hands. "I don't want you to go..."

"Then I won't." Maul rested his head over the kid's back as Crest slept. Crest seemed to like doing that, sleeping draped all over Maul's body. The Sith closed his eyes and thought. Just over two months...and it was like he was a completely different man. A man who loved the soft kisses he and Dogma shared. A man who enjoyed being with Feral and Crest. Savage was still a little iffy, but Maul thought he could get used to the other Zabrak. "I won't leave you."

"Promise?" Crest softly asked.

"I promise on my life," Maul assured him. That seemed to help a little. He wasn't sure how long he spent with Crest, just soothing the small clone. As much as he wanted to try things with Dogma, Crest needed him more. He was learning about that. Even though it was hard, he could do it. He threw an arm over Crest's back and wondered what his Master would do if he saw him now. Probably beat the tar out of him for daring to fall in love.

Someone brushed a kiss atop his head. "I heard what you did for Crest. Damn, but you're brave."

Maul smiled. "I couldn't let the Jedi drag him to hell. He's mine, you know." And so was Dogma, but in a different way. He budged up to provide the room for the other man to sit with him. Dogma sat beside him, his body slim compared to Maul's greater bulk. That was another one of the reasons why he liked Dogma. The clone looked small, but he had great strength about him. A strength that Maul wasn't sure he had.

Dogma picked Crest up. "I'll get him in the bed. You deserve better than Ax bitching at you...if you're okay with it."

He was a little nervous still, but Maul nodded. "I'm fine. You're...you're the one I'm worried about."

"I'm not made of glass, but I welcome the concern." Something washed over Dogma's features. The first time they had curled up, Maul had seen bruises about Dogma's hips when his shirt rode up. Dogma never said where they came from, but Maul had found him a few times, huddled in the corner. It was how they came to understand each other. The other never asked why a breakdown was occurring, they just offered the comfort.

Maul smiled to himself as he stripped in their bunkroom. He had the feeling this was going to be _very_ good indeed.


	33. The Morning After

Maul was a little sore, but it was the good kind of sore. The sore that came from knowing that he'd done a good job and given as good as he'd gotten. Not that it had been a kind of competition, but it felt very good to know that he'd made it good for Dogma, too. The clone had kissed him that morning as they got up and it had almost gone into another session right there. Well, it would have if they hadn't had Crest wanting breakfast. Maul couldn't exactly scar the poor boy for life.

There was a definite hitch in his step as he walked to the galley. Dogma seemed to be proud of himself, too. After all, they had just enjoyed a few sessions of lovemaking. Because that was what it had been. Despite his nerves, Maul had rather enjoyed the entire thing. It felt...odd too let another person into him so much. To surrender and just be raw and vulnerable when he crested to a height of feeling he'd never known existed before this...

Crest held onto his shirt as they got breakfast. Savage and Feral were still asleep. "Why're you mad at Slick?"

"Slick told you a lie." Maul allowed Crest to sit in his lap as he poured the cereal. Dogma snorted softly and rolled his eyes. "No Jedi will take you to hell as long as I'm with you, okay? I'm not going to let you go."

"He wasn't lying," Dogma sighed. He preferred fried eggs for breakfast and Maul needed to protein. He liked being cared for and it showed. He'd close his eyes and bask in the pleasure as Dogma almost seemed to worship his body. "Crest is a clone, Maul. And Kamino is hell with coordinates."

"I'm still not letting him go." Maul held on to Crest and reluctantly went through the box of cereal and found the prize ring at the bottom. Crest gasped. It slipped over his skinny finger, but he still beamed like it was the best prize in the world. Maul smiled faintly. Bacon, eggs, and a kiss. What else could he want? His body felt strangely sated from the night before. He'd woke up hard, yes, but they had both taken care of their... _problems_. Dogma didn't think it was as dirty as Maul did, which was strange.

"Yes, I know." Dogma sat beside him and pushed him a plate of food. Crest seemed content with a bowl of sugary cereal and milk. "That doesn't excuse what Slick did, though. We're going to have words once he gets up. And good job for getting Crest out of the way. That fight could have gone wrong a thousand different ways."

Maul knew that. He still basked to be beside the other two, his eyes drifting closed. But if he closed them too much, he remembered being flat on his back and howling. There were sometimes that he was very glad the rooms were soundproofed. If they hadn't been...it wouldn't have been good. Maul had been louder than he thought. But Dogma seemed to love that, hearing all of the sounds he made and watching as he panted.

"I'm glad it didn't," Maul finally said. He gave Dogma a chaste kiss on the cheek and ate his breakfast. "Thank you."

"Why? You saved my life," Dogma grimly said. He sighed and looked at his food. "At the very least, I would have been enslaved. But, thanks to you...I was saved. I get to live life here with a _vod'ika_ and...and someone who doesn't tease me for being smaller than the others."

Maul cocked his head. "I think you have a very nice size."

Dogma lightly slapped his shoulder. "Not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter! As much as I love you, Maul, you have a dirty mind! I meant that I'm not as powerful as the others are. I'm borderline defective."

"I think you're pretty damn close to perfect," Maul argued. He wondered where this would go after last night. He wondered why, too. He wanted to understand, but he wasn't even sure where to start. After all, he'd never been taught things like this. Ever. He was going in blind and that scared him. Even if he loved the way they could interact, he wanted to know why it happened like this.

Maybe he could learn with Dogma at his side.


	34. Unwelcome Company

Maul wasn't sure who wanted the kiss first. All he was aware of was the roughness against his back and the armful of Dogma he had. They were in a back alley, yes. They were in a public space, yes. But he wanted Dogma and Dogma was willing to comply. He wasn't sure how long they stayed that way, wrapped up in each other's arms and sucking face. He was getting better at this. It wasn't just teeth anymore.

"What are you doing to him?!" someone yelped.

Maul jerked back, one hand on his lightsaber. Dogma yelped beside him. The two men took a deep breath, looking over at the man glaring at them. Maul felt his lip curled as he looked at the Jedi. Cool blue eyes met with golden and they glared at each other. Dogma swallowed and said nothing, looking at both men. Would Kenobi take Dogma back to Kamino? Dogma had said that if he went, he wouldn't be the same if he got back.

"I was being kissed," Maul shrugged. He'd fought Kenobi twice and each time he'd either lost or been fought to a draw. That hadn't been good. He didn't want to get in another fight, especially if he might lose Dogma in the crossfire. He took a deep breath as he looked at the other Jedi. "If you have a problem with it, go back to the Order. Where you can go and make slaves out of clones."

"Was he hurting you?" Kenobi completely ignored Maul.

Dogma rolled his eyes. "Why don't you come back later?" To prove his point, he captured Maul in a kiss, drawing it out and making the Sith almost weak in the knees. "When my boyfriend is a little more able to deal with stupid?"

Maul groaned and almost touched Dogma in an inappropriate place, just to piss the old Jedi off. As much as he loved doing that, he didn't want to lose his clone. Either one of them. Crest was his and so was Dogma. "Why are you bothering me?!"

"Let's see. You stole a child. And you're probably forcing yourself on a clone. It's called mind control."

"He's about as subtle as a rancor," Dogma laughed. He slung his arm over Maul's shoulder, grinning. Maul smiled softly. All they wanted to do was go get a little fresh air and just walk around the city. As long as they could just stay here and have fun...Maul could do that. He had Crest. He had Dogma, he had the one he loved. That was about as much as Maul could hope for. He might want to kiss Dogma all the time, but he had to take care of this first.

"I don't want Anakin." Maul looked over at Kenobi, hoping he would understand. "I never wanted Anakin. I was only following my Master's orders. I risked death or worse if I didn't."

Kenobi only shook his head. "I don't know why you lie to me, Sith. I really don't know why you try."

Because it was the truth. Maul looked over to Dogma and saw that they were holding hands. Kenobi took the hint. He snarled, but he didn't look happy about leaving. Maul watched him go. He knew there would be problems there one day, but this wasn't the time to push it.

He squeezed Dogma's hand. He could work with this for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos appreciated! The author replies back as quickly as she can!


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